April 22, 2025

A joint patrol by the U.S. military and Okinawa authorities, including the prefectural police, took place from 10 p.m. on April 18 to 2 a.m. on April 19 in downtown Okinawa City, mainly in areas neighboring the U.S. Kadena base.

Japanese Communist Party member of the Okinawa City Assembly Maemiya Mitsuko criticized the joint patrol under the current Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) as just a show of the U.S. military.

The patrol was proposed by the U.S. military probably based on the intention to give the impression that it implemented prevention measures in reaction to a series of sexual assaults against women and underage girls involving U.S. military personnel in Okinawa.

During the joint patrol, if a crime is committed by a U.S. serviceman in the presence of both the Japanese police and the U.S. military police, the U.S. military will arrest the suspect under the SOFA.

Japan’s land outside of U.S. military facilities are under the nation’s jurisdiction. However, U.S. military members who commit crimes while off base often escape from being arrested by the Japanese police. The reason for this is that the Japanese government under a secret agreement with its U.S. counterpart gave up on its right to exercise primary jurisdiction over crimes committed by U.S. service members.

There are many cases where U.S. military personnel who committed crimes were not indicted because the SOFA hampered the local law enforcement authority from investigating those offenses. The Okinawa Prefectural government has long called on the Japanese and U.S. governments to move toward a fundamental revision of the SOFA in order to prevent the nonstop recurrence of crimes by U.S. military personnel.

Past related articles:
> 90% of US military-related crimes not prosecuted last year [June 29, 2022]
> Declassified document reveals that Japan gave up primary right of jurisdiction over crimes committed by U.S. servicemen [October 24, 2008]