TOKYO Japanese police need to enhance cooperation with law enforcement authorities in other countries as well as international organizations to combat trans-national crimes, the 1999 police White Paper released Friday said. The White Paper, compiled by the National Police Agency, said Japanese police are also in need of officers with better language skills to cope with the rising number of criminal cases involving foreigners in Japan. In 1998, Japanese police handled 21,689 penal offense cases committed by 5,382 foreigners, according to the report.

The number of cases was about 25 times the corresponding number in 1980 and the number of foreigners involved about seven times that in 1980, it said. Japan needs to improve cooperation in police investigations, especially with Asian countries, and should play a leading role in fighting trans-national crimes, it said. In August, the National Police Agency and Chinese security authorities agreed to cooperate and exchange information in dealing with illegal trafficking in drugs and arms, and the smuggling of Chinese people into Japan. (DPA)