Here’s How Taxi Drivers Slashed Convenience Store Robberies By Half – Kyoto’s Midnight Defender Strategy Is A Huge Success
The Kyoto Prefectural Police employed an interesting program utilizing the city’s taxi drivers to bring down robberies at the regional convenience stores. The program has proved to be exceptionally successful with crime rates plummeting by almost half as compared to the previous year.
Instances of armed robberies at select supermarkets and other similar stores in Kyoto, Japan dropped 48 percent last year owing to the “Midnight Defender Strategy” an initiative that witnessed synergistic participation of taxi drivers. These stores had the taxi drivers playing the part of passive vigilance officers.
The modus operandi of the stores in collusion with the taxi drivers is simple. The stores allow the taxi drivers to ‘hang around’ the store, who in turn offer multiple sets of eyes that dissuade any robber. Usually, there are people during the daytime, who frequent the stores and browse around, without buying anything. These loiterers roam around the store, perusing the magazines and in general wind-shop.
Though such people would be considered a menace anywhere in America, in Japan, these people are providing a valuable service to the store. However, come nightfall, these people scatter away, leaving the store looking empty and vulnerable. It’s during this dangerous window of 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. that most convenience store robberies occur. This is the time, when taxi drivers come into the picture as plain clothes vigilantes.
About half of Kyoto’s convenience stores or 500 odd shops signed on for the Midnight Defender Strategy. These shops hung posters with slogans such as “vigilance strengthening” written on them in their windows. Essentially, these signs indicated that taxi drivers were allowed to park there as long as they like during their breaks. These people were allowed to enter the store and use its public facilities and were assured they would not be booed away by the management.
Though the stores lost a few parking spaces, they gained quite a few extra set of eyes that proved helpful in deterring even hardened criminals from attempting to rob a store that was frequented by taxi drivers. Since the program started in September 2013, the number of armed robberies among participating stores dropped to four compared to 18 in the previous year. On the contrary, shops which refused to participate in the Midnight Defender program saw an increase in robberies. Overall, the program has brought down the crime-rate in the prefecture by half.
Just by welcoming the taxi drivers, shop-keepers have ensured they don’t get mugged. The truly grateful people are those who man the cashier’s desk during the graveyard hours.
[Image Credit | Jaunted]
