U.S. military police detain a service member during a joint patrol of Gate 2 Street in Okinawa city, Okinawa, Sept. 27, 2025. (Brian McElhiney/Stars and Stripes)
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — The mayor of Okinawa prefecture’s capital city has rejected U.S. military plans to expand joint police patrols into his municipality.
Naha Mayor Satoru Chinen told Marine Corps Installations Pacific commander Maj. Gen. Brian Wolford during an Oct. 10 meeting at city hall that he is not considering patrols between U.S. military police and Japanese authorities, a city spokesman said by phone Friday.
The U.S. military first requested expanding the patrols into Naha during the Okinawa Community Partnership Forum on May 9. Wolford said during an Aug. 18 media roundtable that the Marine Corps was working to bring the initiative to the city.
Installations command spokeswoman 1st Lt. Kelsey Enlow declined to comment on the Oct. 10 meeting via email Friday, citing the ongoing U.S. government shutdown.
Wolford explained to Chinen how the joint patrols have operated since April in Okinawa city, the Naha city spokesman said.
Chinen replied that Naha’s “situation is different from Okinawa city” because of its distance from U.S. bases and lack of a comparable nightlife district to Gate 2 Street.
However, he did not rule out allowing solo patrols by U.S. military police, the spokesman said.
“Chinen responded that he would like to consider this while exchanging opinions in the future,” the spokesman said. Some Japanese government officials are required to speak to the press on condition of anonymity.
Solo patrols were carried out nightly in Okinawa city between Oct. 10 and Oct. 13, Army Maj. D. Hunter Nix, a spokesman for U.S. Forces Japan, said by email Thursday. Military police arrested 10 service members during those patrols for violating USFJ’s liberty order, which has barred off-base drinking between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. since October 2024.
He declined to provide further details on the arrests Friday.
During an Aug. 16 joint patrol, three Marines were arrested and six others detained, according to the Marine Corps. Two service members were arrested during the first solo patrol on Sept. 13, and four more were arrested during the most recent joint patrol on Sept. 27, according to USFJ.
Nix declined to comment on potential charges or future patrol schedules, citing operational security concerns.
“We are constantly examining our patrols and where they can be most effective,” he said.
A spokesman for Okinawa city said by phone Friday that joint patrols there will continue monthly.
The joint patrols began April 18 in response to a series of sexual assault allegations involving U.S. service members.
Senior Airman Brennon Washington was convicted last year of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a minor in December 2023. Marine Lance Cpl. Jamel Clayton was convicted in June of strangling and attempting to sexually assault a woman in May 2024. Both convictions are under appeal.
Marine Pfc. Austin Weddington, charged with sexually assaulting a Japanese woman and injuring another on Camp Foster in March, is scheduled to go on trial Nov. 18 in Naha District Court, according to court records. Another case remains pending.
AloJapan.com