The National Police Agency on Friday showed off a new police identification badge and pin created in an effort to better identify officers and improve accountability following a series of scandals.

The ID consists of a police badge and photo identification in a single case that has been modeled after one used by the FBI. It marks the first change to the badge since 1935, the NPA said.

The pins, to be worn by uniformed officers, are an added identification feature. They bear two letters referring to the officer's affiliation and three numbers referring to the officer's police identification number.

The ID badges and pins are expected to be issued to the 230,000 police officers across the country beginning Oct. 1.

The ID cards will bear the officer's name, rank, picture and number in a special hologram design to prevent forgery.

Following a series of scandals involving police officers, an advisory panel on reform proposed in July 2000 that officers wear the ID so that their names and ranks are easily visible.

In June, the NPA began requiring that police station personnel serving the public wear name tags and started studying plans to introduce the new badge and pin.

Home sweet 'koban'

Japan's second "koban" police box that serves as both home and workplace for a police couple opened Thursday in a Tokyo riverside district.

On duty at the live-in post in the Tsukuda district of Chuo Ward are Assistant Police Inspector Hideyuki Hane, 29, and his wife, Miyuki, 30, a senior policewoman.

The first post housing a married police couple is in Nagano Prefecture.

"By living in the same neighborhood where the residents live, we hope to feel close to them and serve them," Hideyuki Hane said.

The Tsukuda district, near the mouth of the Sumida River, is known as the River City 21 area and has some 3,100 households.

With the recent increase in residents in the district, the new post was installed to keep officers in close contact with the community.

Among the residents of a high-priced, high-rise housing complex in the area are professional baseball player Hideki Matsui of the Yomiuri Giants and Heizo Takenaka, economic and fiscal policy minister.