The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Info-Communications Department, which is responsible for the police dispatch and radio system in the capital, marked 70 years since its establishment Monday at a ceremony at Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) headquarters.
Since its launch in 1954, the department, which supports the communications infrastructure at the core of MPD activities, has played key roles in historic incidents.
During the major protests against the Japan-U.S. security treaty in the 1960s and '70s, the department repaired riot police officers' broken radios on the spot to maintain communications. In the wake of the 1985 crash of a Japan Airlines aircraft, the department set up an antenna in a rugged mountainous area and deployed satellite communication vehicles to support search operations.