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Comment by mistercow | Hacker News Reader

> A police source said they will not specify the location of the injury "because it's something only the assailant would know, and we wish to weed out possible false confessions."

Whoa, Japan has cops who recognize that false confessions are a thing? Wish we had those in the US.

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Don't get too excited. Japanese cops are infamous for coercing and even creating false confessions when they can't solve, e.g., a high-profile murder.

And for every Iwao Hakamada[1], you have to think there are many more innocent people convicted, who didn't become big media stories and are still serving time.

[1]: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/27/japanese-man-fr...

"Many Western human rights organizations alleged that the high conviction rate is due to rampant use of conviction solely based on confession. Confessions are often obtained after long periods of questioning by police as those arrested may be held for up to 23 days. This can, at times, take weeks during which time the suspect is in detention and can be prevented from contacting a lawyer or family.[3]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_justice_system_of_Japa...

Your snark is unjustified...Withholding public information about the particulars of a crime is common practice in the United States. The problem is not just false confessions, but false witnesses who claim to have seen something, but in retrospect, are only repeating second-hand information...this can hinder an investigation.

From all I have read the problem with US is not the quality of investigative work of the police, but the size of the mallets DA have at their disposal and their discretion of using them.

I think this is reasonable normal in most civilised societies.

In Japan, sacrifice for your family and organization are what bring you respect. The police take that into consideration.

In the States, meeting the bust quota so you earn your promotion for ridding the streets of scumbags is what brings you respect. The police take that into consideration.

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