The Justice Ministry and police agreed Tuesday to team up next month to look for more than 1,500 convicts who have disappeared while on parole or probation, officials said.

According to the ministry, there were more than 60,000 people on parole or probation as of the end of April.

The ministry will give data on the missing violators to police. Those on probation will be reported to local probation offices. Those released on parole will be detained.

The Justice Ministry has prime responsibility for locating parolees and probationers, but it has only about 630 probation officers. They are aided by 50,000 volunteer workers engaged primarily in locating minors.

The ministry and police began sharing information in June on convicted sex offenders after a 7-year-old Nara girl was kidnapped and murdered in November 2004. A man with a history of molesting girls is on trial for the murder and has pleaded guilty.

In September, the two agencies began sharing information on people convicted of murder, robbery and other serious crimes.

A man on parole after committing theft was arrested in February on suspicion of fatally stabbing an 11-month-old baby and injuring two other people at a supermarket in Anjo, Aichi Prefecture.

In another case, a man on probation after being convicted of assault was arrested in May on suspicion of illegally confining a 19-year-old girl for three months in Tokyo.