The Least Useful Guide to Fukuoka

Today, when I was cycling, I was stopped and questioned by two young police officers on suspicion of bike theft.

My bike is equipped with a rather unusual locking system (I don’t put the photograph of the lock for security reasons. You can see it only when you come here.), so they probably assumed my bike was without attached lock, which is common bike equipment in this country, and thought I stole someone’s bike after breaking the lock.

It was my first time to be questioned by the police, so I got excited and asked an officer about this and that while his colleague was confirming my bike registration (we usually register our bike to the police at the time of purchase).

The Q and A went:

Q: Do you have a gun with you now?

A: Yes, I do, just in case.

Q: If I’d ignored your stopping, would I have been shot?

A: No, we are not allowed to do so unless you were terribly violent.

Q: If I was a thief, would I be taken to the police station in handcuffs and at the end of rope?

A: No, unless you were a barbaric criminal, such as murderer, we don’t use any restraint.

Q: Are you stopping every single bicycle running around?

A: Yes if it looks suspicious.

Q: Do you mean I look suspicious?

A: Not yourself, but in terms of the lock, yes. But we haven't seen bike lock like yours.

Q: Why do you do this task while there are lots of more serious crimes?

A: Well… there have been lots of bike thefts in this area and the number of incidents has been increasing. So we are doing this in order to prevent more crimes.

Q: I don’t think my rusty bike is any attractive to the thieves.

A: It doesn’t matter whether your bike looks attractive or not, though I don’t think your bike is rusty. Most of the thieves are naughty kids who just pick up any bike when they don’t want to walk and throw the bike away.

Q: Is this interview what they call stop-and-search?

A: Yes, theoretically.

Q: Am I questioned by the police, really?

A: Yes. This should be your once-in-a-lifetime experience, I think.

My question time is up: My bike registration has been confirmed and my suspicion cleared.

I could have asked more and more questions as I, a  law-abiding citizen, rarely speak to the police. But thinking that using their time is wasting tax money I had to fork out, I decided to release them. They said ‘thank you for your co-operation’ as I became useless to them.

By the way, is there any point to stop a middle-aged housewife in second-had clothes? Or Should I blame Panasonic that invented the high-tech and suspicious-looking locking system?  Or was I just made fun of by someone pretending to be police officer?