Crimes are increasing as police grapple with a less cooperative public and criminals' increasing use of high technology, the National Police Agency said in its 2000 white paper released Friday.
The report also mentions crimes committed by police, the first time the annual publication has taken up the issue. There were a series of police-related scandals last year, including the covering up of illegal drug use by an officer in Kanagawa Prefecture, which contributed to an erosion of public confidence in the police.
The paper indicates that crime is at a record high in Japan.