Japan fields all-woman riot squad

The riot police who will be facing down any badly behaved England fans in Japan are all women.

The so-called Lilac Squad will play a key role in policing World Cup games. The idea behind the all-female team is that their fair-but-firm presence may avert hooliganism by subliminally deterring fans from indulging in aggressive behaviour.

But, should anyone step out of line, they will soon find out that the female officers are not just there for symbolism - they are trained in martial arts and riot control, and equipped with hi-tech policing gear.

The Lilac Squad are adept at judo, karate and aikido, which teaches its practitioners timing and control so that even relatively small people can immobilise or throw bigger, stronger opponents.

Their equipment will include a new Japanese invention, the net gun - a device that can fire at and trap groups of rioters from a distance.

They will wear lightweight body armour allowing increased speed of movement, and carry transparent reinforced shields. The female squad is being trained to use water cannons against any hooligans who dare to confront them with violence.

Muneaki Sato, a spokesman for Hokkaido police, which is in charge of security in Sapporo where England's 7 June game against Argentina takes place, said: "We need tight security but we want a soft visual mood, so we felt that for some jobs female officers were better than male."

Female officers will operate airport-style metal detectors and body check points through which all spectators arriving at the stadium will have to pass. It is hoped their presence will calm agitated fans eager to enter the ground.

Rehearsals have shown the checks are taking up to four times the 30-seconds-per-person target, fuelling fears that delays in getting tens of thousands into the stadium could lead to trouble.

The Lilac Squad, several dozen strong, will need to persuade fans to part with some apparently innocuous belongings. Though Japan's rainy season will mean that many games take place in a downpour, fans are prohibited from bringing umbrellas into the ground in case they are used as weapons.

The squad will be supported by nine other police units, some armed with automatic weapons - though these are intended for use on terrorists rather than hooligans.

In all some 1,300 officers in Sapporo alone have been involved in rehearsals, including night-time riot simulations and pitch invasions. Their number will swell threefold on matchday as further reinforcements are drafted in.

Peaceful Japan has almost no experience of football-related violence and the drills are deemed vital to bringing officers up to speed on controlling crowd trouble.

The city of Sapporo has taken antihooliganism measures unheard of in Japan. Surveillance cameras have been set up to allow 24-hour monitoring of two hundred spots such as Sapporo station, the vicinity of the Dome and the bar district of Susukino.

However, Japan's greatest weapon in its battle with hooliganism may be its formidable criminal justice system, which has a phenomenal 99 per cent conviction rate for those brought to trial.

The Sapporo District Court will suspend normal court sessions around the days when England fans are in town to enable investigators and prosecutors to cope with an anticipated surge in arrests.

It is no coincidence that the only other court to suspend sessions is the Saitama District Court - in the city where England will play Sweden on 2 June.

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