
Kyoto taxi drivers reduce robberies by 50 percent by doing nothing - mef
http://en.rocketnews24.com/2015/01/02/kyoto-taxi-drivers-reduce-convenience-store-robberies-50-percent-by-doing-absolutely-nothing/
======
visakanv
While the dataset is kinda small, I think it makes a lot of sense. This is
something right out of Jane Jacobs' "Eyes On The Street" idea from "The Death
And Life Of Great American Cities":

> “A city street equipped to handle strangers, and to make a safety asset, in
> itself, our of the presence of strangers, as the streets of successful city
> neighborhoods always do, must have three main qualities:

> First, there must be a clear demarcation between what is public space and
> what is private space. Public and private spaces cannot ooze into each other
> as they do typically in suburban settings or in projects.

> Second, there must be eyes upon the street, eyes belonging to those we might
> call the natural proprietors of the street. The buildings on a street
> equipped to handle strangers and to insure the safety of both residents and
> strangers, must be oriented to the street. They cannot turn their backs or
> blank sides on it and leave it blind.

> And third, the sidewalk must have users on it fairly continuously, both to
> add to the number of effective eyes on the street and to induce the people
> in buildings along the street to watch the sidewalks in sufficient numbers.
> Nobody enjoys sitting on a stoop or looking out a window at an empty street.
> Almost nobody does such a thing. Large numbers of people entertain
> themselves, off and on, by watching street activity.”

I love it. Simple, elegant.

Would love to hear if anybody has any divergent thoughts about how this sort
of p2p peer-surveillance/protection mechanism works in other complex systems!

~~~
potatolicious
Jane Jacobs' work is famous, but yet still under-appreciated, and her ideas
IMO under-implemented.

For the most part we're still stuck with half-assed bastardized versions of Le
Corbusier's shitty ideas about the Radiant City, even though we've already
seen terrible results from it across the board.

One thing that disappoints me is that American cities are experiencing a huge
resurgence in urbanism, but yet most of this comes in the form of isolated
towers attached to parking garages, not any structures that would encourage
street life or "eyes on the street" to any substantial degree. Huge apartment
buildings are going up in "revitalized" downtowns throughout the country yet
the streets are as ghostly and empty as ever.

~~~
wutbrodo
> Huge apartment buildings are going up in "revitalized" downtowns throughout
> the country yet the streets are as ghostly and empty as ever.

Are there cities in particular that you're thinking of? This is decidedly not
the case where I live (in fact, the most common complaint I've heard is that
it's getting too crowded, especially downtown). On a more theoretical level
(given that I don't have _recent_ experience living anywhere else), I don't
even see how the influx of residents implied by these new apts wouldn't
increase street activity to at least some significant degree.

~~~
hammock
Take a look at Streeterville/Lakeshore East in Chicago (lakefront downtown)
and Tobacco Row in Richmond (riverfront warehouse district). High rises and
lofts, with amenities in skylobbies or at the bottom, and ample parking in
garages. Despite beautiful parks adjacent, the sidewalks around these areas
are always empty, and there is very little street-facing retail.

The converted lofts in Fulton River District (warehouse district in chicago,
same price point) seem to be increasing foot traffic though, despite it being
an area where you need a car to get anywhere. Parking in this neighborhood is
on the street. Still very undeveloped commercially though, aside from
"restaurant row"

~~~
avn2109
>> "Despite beautiful parks adjacent..."

A big chunk of Jacobs' work is concerned with why parks are a necessary but
insufficient condition for vibrant cities, especially in the book mentioned in
the GP (Death and Life of Great American Cities). IMHO it's eye-opening and
pleasantly brief (particularly by the ponderous standards of city-planning
literature).

------
goochtek
I live in Kyoto and was surprised to learn that there were even 18 convenience
store robberies in the year before the program started. It's really safe here
so I wonder what percentage of those armed robberies included assault on the
clerk. Anyway, this is a good idea. And the Kyoto taxi drivers are amazing
too. They aren't your standard "just arrive in the country and don't know
where anything is" taxi drivers that are found in many cities. These guys
usually own their own taxi and take great pride in knowing where and how to
get to anywhere in Kyoto quickly and safely. If you are in Kyoto and take a
taxi, you'll never have to worry about being taken the long way so they can
get extra money. So good on them for working with the police in this
situation.

~~~
brazzy
Having lived in Japan, what surprised me was the implication that convenience
stores have parking lots. Really? Don't think I ever saw one.

~~~
pcurve
lol You're right. I've only seen them in front of large supermarkets.

Edit: n/m. I guess it's common once you get out of the busy part of Kyoto, but
near main streets.

[http://tinyurl.com/l558zcy](http://tinyurl.com/l558zcy)

[http://tinyurl.com/lgmf5l2](http://tinyurl.com/lgmf5l2)

[http://tinyurl.com/l3vfnds](http://tinyurl.com/l3vfnds)

they're all over the place. lol

~~~
nitrogen
Note: HN will elide links that are excessively long, so next time you can just
paste the Google Maps links directly. Plus a lot of people don't like clicking
on blind links.

------
TamDenholm
I really like alternative solutions like this to bad behaviour. My favourite
instance of this is story of hooded teenagers outside stores intimidating
passers by and general unwanted loitering in car parks etc. The solution was
to loudly play music that the miscreants would really hate, like Engelbert
Humperdinck, Neil Diamond, Dolly Parton etc. They moved on pretty quickly
because they couldnt stand listening to it.

~~~
visakanv
Ha! That is amazing. I would love to read a book or blog just full of examples
like these.

Another couple I can think of: (more common examples)-

* reducing baggage waiting time by increasing the walking time to the baggage carousels.

* Reducing "the phone rings too many times before customer support answers" complaints by lengthening the time per ring.

* Using mirrors next to elevators so people distract themselves and feel less bothered by the wait.

~~~
baddox
Animating progress bars to decrease perceived wait times.

[http://www.chrisharrison.net/projects/progressbars2/Progress...](http://www.chrisharrison.net/projects/progressbars2/ProgressBarsHarrison.pdf)

~~~
kuschku
Oh yes! the next android progress bars [1] are a perfect example of this. I
actually kinda like watching them.

— [1] [http://www.google.com/design/spec/components/progress-
activi...](http://www.google.com/design/spec/components/progress-
activity.html#progress-activity-types-of-indicators)

------
brohoolio
I can't even imagine living in a state where a city with 1.4 million people
having 4 robberies in participating stores.

That's crazy.

Of course I live in Michigan.

I've been thinking about crime a bunch after listening to the Serial podcast
and thinking about The Wire. Crime is expensive. Trial, police, incarceration
are all resource intensive. It would be amazing to have those resources
available for city residents to do something else, like have a cleaner town,
better schools, safer roads.

~~~
semi-extrinsic
In the US there are, sadly, big financial interests in keeping the prison
population high (the prison industry complex). Couple with what seems to be a
very high reluctance towards giving someone who is mentally ill treatment
instead of prison, and no real public mental health care, and you get what you
get.

~~~
pavel_lishin
I don't think it's just that; I think that in America, there's this huge
belief system that focuses on individuals, self-reliance, etc - and the flip
side of that is a the belief that if you commit a crime, well, you've made
your bed, and that bed is in a prison cell, and you'll be sleeping there for a
really long time.

------
mabbo
When I worked in fast food in high school, we had a standing policy that all
police officers got the 50% off employee discount. Generally, having a couple
cruisers in the parking lot deterred trouble.

~~~
seanmcdirmid
I don't think this is legal or considered acceptable today, at least in most
US states. A police discount for the purpose of affecting favorable treatment
(even if that treatment is merely for continued presence) is kind of like a
bribe. Many police departments just don't allow these kinds of discounts as a
matter of policy.

~~~
techsupporter
Apparently it's either legal or at least accepted in Whataburger country
(Texas). Stores there offer free meals to anyone in uniform--police,
firefighter, EMS, security guard, military, nurse, etc--eating in the
restaurant.

~~~
seanmcdirmid
If everyone got a 50% discount, there would obviously be no problem. If the
criteria was unrelated to any ulterior motives (you just have to be uniform),
then that seems fine. It is only when providing a discount to a government
employee with the expectation of a special benefit that would not be conveyed
otherwise...

------
junto
Notably, using a similar tactic, the 'Gävle goat' survived this Christmas from
arsonists because the town set up a taxi rank around the wooden structure:

[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/christmas-201...](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/christmas-2014-the-
giant-goat-who-has-survived-against-all-the-odds-9948703.html)

~~~
grimman
That's the tactic employed, yes, but that doesn't mean that's why it survived.
I'm certain a dedicated goat burner would gladly lob a Molotov cocktail and
leg it away from the scene.

We'll have to wait and see what happens next year; a sample size of 1 is not
useful. :)

~~~
pavel_lishin
I think drones are cheap enough these days that you could probably put a slow-
burning fuse on one, and dive-bomb the Goat from a safe distance.

------
domdip
The increase in robberies at non-participating stores is a bit concerning.
This might deter in a similar manner to The Club, which did a good job of
preventing _your_ car from being stolen but didn't drop the overall crime
rate.

~~~
azakai
And possibly worse, I wonder if robberies of other places than convenience
stores increased. The interesting number is whether overall crime decreased or
not.

------
jheriko
The data set is far too small to draw serious conclusions from yet....
especially the 'increase' in stores that weren't participating (although a 50%
drop 'feels' like it should be significant...).

Still, hopefully the effect is real and less people suffer as result. :)

~~~
SapphireSun
When the sample size is that small, it's possible that there were just one or
two dudes doing most of the robberies. If they decided to move, call it quits,
or went to jail, that could be an alternative explanation to the drop. I think
you'd have to implement the experiment over a region to make it accurate if N
is so low.

~~~
kuschku
The problem is: This experiment was implemented over a region with 1.4 million
people in it. Doing any larger sample size wouldn’t be helpful here.

~~~
jheriko
Yeah, I don't know if its fixable, just that the conclusion drawn is on shaky
foundation.

------
Animats
This only works in a country where guns are rare.

Another common crime-prevention device in Japan is orange dye balls.
Convenience store clerks have some handy to throw at robbers. This marks them
for later pickup by cops.

It probably wouldn't help much in the US.

~~~
kuschku
Hmm, in Germany a lot of products in most stores is tagged with a special
capsule, if the product is stolen, as soon as it leaves the store, the capsule
explodes and releases a 100ml of extremely bright red ink, which stains and
can’t be gotten off anymore (literally, it will stay on your skin for a month
or so). Also this marks the article as stolen, so no one will buy the red-
stained product from anyone.

~~~
cesarb
What happens if the cashier forgets to disable the capsule?

With alarm tags, sometimes the cashier forgets to disable the tag. It's no big
deal - the alarm beeps at the door, you go back to the cashier and the tag is
disabled. With an exploding ink capsule, you'd have ink everywhere instead of
just a harmless beep. On your clothes, on other products you bought, on the
store floor...

~~~
gambiting
Well, exactly what you would think happens. A perfectly good product gets
ruined. Cashiers are trained to pay attention, and I imagine if they forget
then they have to pay for the destroyed item.

------
Mikeb85
Some of the headlines are hilarious. This one detailing a convenience store
robbery in particular: [http://en.rocketnews24.com/2014/05/06/saitama-man-
robs-7-ele...](http://en.rocketnews24.com/2014/05/06/saitama-man-
robs-7-eleven-with-knives-steals-3-onigiri/)

------
adventured
Given Japan's murder rate - roughly 400 to 500 per year in a nation of 127
million - I have to wonder what would happen if you just refused to comply
with a robber. What are the odds they'd proceed to attack, much less try to
kill you. I suppose the clerk might risk a beating.

~~~
pmontra
They used knives for those robberies, not guns. That's enough to reduce the
risk of being killed.

------
dschiptsov
Why there are so many idiotic headlines?)

It should be "Kyoto taxi drivers reduce robberies _of grocery stores, not
themselves_ by 50 percent by _sitting and_ doing nothing _in their cars on a
vacant parking lots in front of grocery stores_.

------
orblivion
18 + 7 incidents (participating and nonparticipating, respectively) before the
program - for an entire small region of the country. I wonder if the price of
implementing the program compares to what should be a minuscule insurance
policy.

------
toogy
Viewing the size of the dataset this really does not mean anything. It's like
training a statistical model on 10 data points and proudly saying that you
have 95% accuracy at predicting something when actually you don't.

------
mootothemax
This idea leaves me feeling a bit uneasy; aren't the robberies still taking
place, just at different locations?

There's also the missing question: what happens if all the stores start
offering parking to the taxi drivers?

~~~
cthalupa
>This idea leaves me feeling a bit uneasy; aren't the robberies still taking
place, just at different locations?

This is covered in the article. There is some shift to other stores, but the
total number of robberies across all stores was roughly halved.

~~~
kagamine
I think that moottothemax is implying more that the crime is going elsewhere,
perhaps there has been an increase in homes being burgled for example. The
article doesn't cover that, the desperate/criminal are still
desperate/criminals. Maybe there was an increase in cars getting broken into?

------
ck2
I didn't think Japan was an anti-crime mecca but it is surprising to read
about high robbery rates there.

Well I guess a dozen robberies among a million people is a fraction of
anywhere in the USA.

I am more curious WHY people are robbing convenience stores in Japan than the
ways it is being combated because it means there are turning elsewhere to
solve whatever money problem they seem to have.

------
fiatmoney
This is a perfect opportunity to plug this book, on the reverse problem:

"Streetwise: How Taxi Drivers Establish Customer's Trustworthiness"

[http://www.amazon.com/Streetwise-Establish-Customers-
Trustwo...](http://www.amazon.com/Streetwise-Establish-Customers-
Trustworthiness-Foundation/dp/0871543095/)

------
freedrull
I have always wondered why nearly every time I enter a convenience store in
Japan sure enough there are 2-5 people standing there reading magazines for
seemingly a really long time. I always wondered why don't they just buy it and
at read it at home?

------
jlebar
I'm just going to leave this here:

> Police are clearly happy with the results and the shops are also pleased
> with not have _knives_ waved in their faces

Emphasis mine.

~~~
Dylan16807
If you're trying to make a point you should actually make it.

~~~
saraid216
Knives are unAmerican. You're supposed to have an assault rifle when robbing a
store.

------
Goopplesoft
A bit off topic but is it conventional to have side mirrors on the hood like
the taxi in the image does? Better view?

~~~
mc32
From what I recall, most cars in Japan have door side mirrors, but taxis
typically have fender mirrors for better blind spot coverage. I think I have
seen a few cars with both door and fender side mirrors.

------
noobermin
50% really isn't a lot if you're talking about 18 total incidents, but this
still is a pretty cool idea.

------
frevd
Cities should do that to prevent Graffiti (better than surveillance cams).

------
renownedmedia
"It appears to be a win-win-win situation for all involved"

Well... win-win-win-lose for the robbers.

------
redblacktree
> It appears to be a win-win-win situation for all involved

Will no one think of the criminals?

------
bkurtz13
"... a win-win-win situation..."

I don't think the thieves would see it that way.

~~~
asveikau
Maybe they stay out of prison?

------
grizzles
I read this and thought - Oh, so the cabbie is supposed to go limp when a
robbery occurs; what a uniquely Japanese style solution. But it's not that at
all. Gypped again.

~~~
GFK_of_xmaspast
Please don't use "gypped", it's a slur.

~~~
UrMomReadsHN
Downvoters - this is correct. Thw word refers to the Romani people (aka
Gypsies)

[http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2013/12/30/242429836/why...](http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2013/12/30/242429836/why-
being-gypped-hurts-the-roma-more-than-it-hurts-you)

"The noun "gyp" was described at the time as "current in polite circles," and
"derived from the popular experience with thieving Gypsies."

"I encounter a lot of people who tell me that they never knew the word
'gypped' had anything to do with gypsies, or that it's offensive — especially
when the word is heard not read," says University of Texas at Austin professor
Ian Hancock, who was born in Britain to Romani parents. "My response to them
is, That's okay. You didn't know but now you do. So stop using it. It may mean
nothing to you, but when we hear it, it still hurts.""

~~~
Dylan16807
Interesting definition of polite.

~~~
UrMomReadsHN
"Polite society" or "polite circles" just means the upper class.

It was 1914, polite society was all about colonialism and "scientific racism."
I actually read a excerpt of a textbook from that time period. The excerpt was
"the races of man," crazy stuff.

