Known throughout the world as the top electronic gadget district and as a favorite spot for computer geeks, Akihabara is gaining an embarrassing reputation for criminal activity that is causing concern among police and local residents.

The Metropolitan Police Department’s Manseibashi Police Station said about 500 criminal offenses were reported in 2005 as a result of the rapid transformation of the district in recent years.

Takashi Kogure, president of the federation of neighborhood associations in the Manseibashi district, said Akihabara, or Akiba for short, “used to see few people after 8 p.m., but it is now becoming a town that doesn’t sleep.”

But even as Akihabara’s reputation as a testing ground for exciting new technology has grown, its popularity has also led to worrying offshoot developments.

Police describe an increase in shoplifting and violent assaults on vulnerable-looking young people patronizing the area. Neighborhood associations plan to install more than 30 security cameras near electronics stores before the end of the year.

Also watched by authorities are a range of subcultural trends taking root throughout Akiba’s intricate warrens.

On the relatively innocuous side of the spectrum are the buildings that devote entire floors to “cosplay” uniforms and maid costumes based on those worn by characters in “anime” films.

Akihabara is the birthplace of “maid cafes,” where waitresses clad in miniskirts and aprons greet their mostly male customers. More problematic is that some of these businesses are thought to offer massage services or allow the waitresses to date patrons.

What’s more, shops selling sexually explicit anime DVDs and electronic games are displaying signboards adorned with naked girls in plain view of a nearby elementary school.

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Crime in Akihabara is no game