Regarding "Police warned school about extortion of bullied Fukushima boy in 2011" in the Nov. 19 edition, students stole ¥1.5 million from a fellow student through bullying and the police simply turned the case over to the school to rectify.

It seems the police were the first to not do their job. Thieving students and their parents should have been immediately brought to task by the police. We are not talking about a few yen; this is large-scale planned theft.

Folks in the police business need to get a grip. Bullying, theft, murder, stalking, murder, suicide/murder; what does it take to get first-response action from police? Privacy and respect for personal space are great concepts, but police investigation, follow-up and immediate lasting preventive action must prevail as well as common sense.

George Colona

OKINAWA

The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.