The Justice Ministry plans to introduce a facial recognition system at a correctional facility in Imabari, Ehime Prefecture, as early as this fiscal year, in the wake of a prisoner's escape from the facility, according to sources.
The ministry also plans to require all inmates at the workshop of Matsuyama Prison to be equipped with the Global Positioning System (GPS) so the prison can locate fugitives immediately.
The workshop for processing ship parts is known as a prison without walls. Designated as an open facility, it has no iron bars on the cells and is not locked from the outside, measures implemented to help inmates adapt to society. About 20 prisoners who are considered to be model inmates are being held there.
However, 27-year-old Tatsuma Hirao, who was serving a term for theft and other criminal offenses, escaped from the facility on the evening of April 8. The Diet and other authorities have criticized the prison, as it did not report the escape until about an hour after discovering that Hirao had run away.
Hirao is still at large, so the ministry has decided it is necessary to improve the facility's monitoring system as soon as possible.
According to the sources, the facial images of all the inmates at the workshop will be registered in advance with the facial recognition system. The system will analyze facial images captured by security cameras at the entrance and other spots at the facility, and sound an alarm when the images match those of an inmate.
In addition, all the inmates at the workshop will be required to wear GPS devices that they cannot remove on their hips or elsewhere. These measures will be implemented with the consent of the inmates, and the facility will not take in those who do not agree.
There are three other similar open facilities in the country, in Abashiri, Hokkaido; Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture; and Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture. The ministry plans to start introducing the facial recognition system and wearable GPS devices at these facilities from next fiscal year.
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