Photo/Illutration Local resident Toshinori Sakunaga with a flier for the Mago (grandchildren) Police project in Bizen, Okayama Prefecture, on June 13 (Shotaro Watanabe)

BIZEN, Okayama Prefecture—A rural police station is counting on older residents to persuade their grandchildren to come back to their hometown and work as police officers.

The Bizen Police Station has jurisdiction over the city of Bizen and the town of Wake in the eastern part of Okayama Prefecture where there are no universities or junior colleges.

Young people who graduate from high schools typically move to the prefectural capital or big cities in other prefectures.

The police station started the Mago Police project this year to reach out to potential future officers through local grandparents as “mago” means “grandchildren.”

Officers reasoned that grandparents should be happy if their loved ones who live away from them return to work law enforcement.

The efforts appear to be paying off.

Three people sat for the police employment exam this spring because of the project.

“It is difficult for officers at the police station to directly approach young people because there are few of them here,” said Kimihiro Nakatsuka, chief of the Bizen Police Station. “But grandfathers and grandmothers can just do that.”

The police station opened a consultation counter in February to respond to inquiries about the qualifications to become a police officer and other details.

Officers have distributed fliers promoting the project at meetings of neighborhood associations as well as during traffic safety and crime prevention classes.

“We want grandparents to become interested in police activities and talk to their grandchildren,” Nakatsuka said. “We hope as many young people as possible will aspire to be police officers.”

Toshinori Sakunaga, 76, who lives in a mountainous area of Bizen, learned about the project this spring when he was talking with an acquaintance working at the Bizen Police Station.

He immediately thought about his grandson, who is in his mid-20s.

Sakunaga had wanted his grandson, who had left his job as a restaurant manager, to hold down regular employment.

The young man appeared surprised when Sakunaga broached the idea of becoming a police officer. Still, he believes his grandson is open to the suggestion.

“I never dreamed that I would recommend the job of a police officer to my grandson,” Sakunaga said.

He said he is ready to provide support if his grandson decides to take up the challenge.

According to prefectural police, 425 individuals took the first-stage employment exam in fiscal 2024, about half of the 814 applicants in fiscal 2015.

In addition to the declining population, officers attributed this to a shift in hiring practices that include private companies sending preliminary job offers to students earlier than before.

Prefectural police have been carrying out reforms to ensure that officers can achieve a work-life balance, such as making it easier for fathers to take child care leave.

Nearly 70 percent of eligible male officers took paternity leave lasting two weeks or longer in fiscal 2023.

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