Every place is different and while there are obviously bad police officers, there are also some very good ones.
I once had a friend here in Japan who unfortunately was starting to suffer from mental illness. She let her visa lapse and when her employer asked her about it, she decided to do a runner. I caught up with her at the bus station and it seems that her employer had called the police because they showed up too. First thing she did was punch one of the two officers.
In Japan, this is a pretty big deal. I'm sure many people have heard stories about the Japanese police. I tend to be quite careful of them because they have pretty broad powers. Anyway, calm as anything these guys restrained her and just held her until she calmed down. Then they explained how her visa worked and told her where to go to fill in the paper work to get it all sorted. They explained that her employer still wanted to employ her and to help her get things worked out. And then after everything was all straightened out, they left.
Without arresting her.
This was a godsend to my friend who was able to sort things out and as her disease progressed was able to go back home for treatment. I'm still grateful to those police officers. I don't think all Japanese police are like that, but there really are people who are good at their jobs.
I once had a friend here in Japan who unfortunately was starting to suffer from mental illness. She let her visa lapse and when her employer asked her about it, she decided to do a runner. I caught up with her at the bus station and it seems that her employer had called the police because they showed up too. First thing she did was punch one of the two officers.
In Japan, this is a pretty big deal. I'm sure many people have heard stories about the Japanese police. I tend to be quite careful of them because they have pretty broad powers. Anyway, calm as anything these guys restrained her and just held her until she calmed down. Then they explained how her visa worked and told her where to go to fill in the paper work to get it all sorted. They explained that her employer still wanted to employ her and to help her get things worked out. And then after everything was all straightened out, they left.
Without arresting her.
This was a godsend to my friend who was able to sort things out and as her disease progressed was able to go back home for treatment. I'm still grateful to those police officers. I don't think all Japanese police are like that, but there really are people who are good at their jobs.