A failure to communicate among the on-site security detail and no real-time images that could be monitored are cited as security deficiencies that led to the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. 

The final report released on Aug. 25 by the National Police Agency on the failure to provide adequate security for Abe also includes proposals for preventing a recurrence.

The report said that it took the suspect, Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, 68 seconds to move from the sidewalk where he was listening to Abe speak and fire two shots from behind the former prime minister. In that time, no police officer noticed what Yamagami was about to do. 

The report pointed out that a security vacuum was created behind Abe as he was giving a campaign speech in Nara city on Aug. 8, allowing a gunman to have a clear shot at the former prime minister. 

Part of the reason for that deficiency was the lack of communication between police officers and their superiors at the scene of the shooting.

The NPA plans to thoroughly rewrite its regulations concerning security details and one focus will be on establishing a clear chain of command, including requiring future security plans to contain the extent of orders that the commanding officer on the scene will issue to subordinates.

Another problem uncovered was the lack of visual images being transmitted to Nara prefectural police headquarters so officers there could monitor the campaign speech site in real time. 

The NPA plans to introduce high-tech drones and other equipment to allow for quicker detection of suspicious individuals.

Images taken by the drone would be converted into 3-D for those monitoring at police headquarters. The NPA also plans to begin test runs using artificial intelligence to determine if that technology can be used to detect suspicious movements.

The deficiencies found in the security plan approved for Abe will also lead the NPA to play a greater role in evaluating future plans compiled by prefectural police headquarters regarding security details.

The NPA will also increase manpower to assess the security plans. Currently, about 10 officers in the security section handle actual security operations.

But with the plan to have the NPA assess plans for all those afforded security protection in the future, an entire new section will be created in the NPA’s Security Bureau. That section will be staffed by police officers temporarily deployed from the Metropolitan Police Department and other prefectural police headquarters.

There will also be a doubling of the number of security police and other officers in the Metropolitan Police Department to handle security details.

Currently, only one security police officer is dispatched for a security detail outside of Tokyo for those afforded such protection, excluding sitting prime ministers. In the future, at least two security police officers will be dispatched.

But the NPA will still have to consider how to deal with the expected huge increase in demand for security details during election campaigns. Plans for campaign speeches are often drawn up at the last minute, so the NPA will be pressed for time in assessing all the security plans that will be submitted during elections.

However, there are only a limited number of police officers specializing in security so the NPA will have to quickly procure such trained officers to scrutinize the future security plans.

There is also the difficulty of trying to prevent someone such as Tetsuya Yamagami, the suspect in the Abe shooting, from making a weapon at home by copying directions easily available over the internet.

NPA officials said they will work with other agencies to come up with ways of preventing the purchase of raw materials used in making guns and bombs.

The NPA currently commissions Internet Hotline Center Japan to monitor information regarding illegal or toxic substances. Private companies are also conducting cyberpatrols for the NPA and both activities will be beefed up in the future.

The NPA is also considering expanding the current voluntary system of asking retail companies to report whenever a customer purchases large amounts of raw materials that could be used to make bombs.

(This article was written by Shimpachi Yoshida, a senior staff writer, and Shingo Tsuru.)