Prime Minister Naoto Kan held the 16th Ministerial Meeting Concerning Measures Against Crime at the Prime Minister's Office.

Discussion took place on the progress of measures against repeated offences and various anti-crime measures, and other topics.

Based on the discussion, the Prime Minister said, "I visited Himeji City at the end of August and heard stories of volunteer probation officers who are truly working hard to prevent offenders from repeating crimes. Many people who end up repeating crimes do not have jobs and are often without a stable place to live. Conversely, it is said that those with jobs are extremely unlikely to commit a repeat crime. In this light, these voluntary probation officers have been helping former offenders find jobs or persuading companies to give jobs to them. It was then that I had a working team established to step up this effort even further within the framework of this ministerial meeting.
It goes without saying that the elimination of crimes marks a major advance for the society, but to realize this it would be essential to prevent the offenders from repeating crimes. Reconfirming this point, I would like all of you to make the utmost efforts in your respective responsibilities."