Thieves at Kadena barred from base, sanctioned with community service

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KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --  Three dependents were barred from Kadena for 10 years and three others were given hundreds of hours of community service and other punishments for their involvement in a series of criminal acts.

During April, the six individuals went out on several nights after curfew to steal items out of unlocked cars. On at least two occasions, several of the individuals discovered one unlocked car with keys in it. They took the car to commit other larcenies, drove it off base, and then returned it to its original location.

In addition to curfew violation, automobile theft and larceny, several of the individuals also drank alcoholic beverages, sold stolen items, and used stolen credit cards to purchase items on the local economy.

Their punishments were sanctioned by the Kadena Disciplinary Action Program, or KDAP.

"Three of the six individuals will be barred from the installation for 10 years," said Col. Chuck Ennis, deputy commander of the 18th Mission Support Group. "With a new policy recently enacted by the Commander, U.S. Forces-Japan, barment from any DOD installation means barment from all DOD installations in Japan."

The other three were punished with hundreds of hours of community service, loss of driving privileges for one year, restricted curfew for six months, and restitution payment to victims. They also have a suspended barment, which means any additional misconduct of any type or failure to comply with sanctions will result in immediate barment, Colonel Ennis said.

"This case was solved very quickly," he said. "The 18th Security Forces Squadron did a super job with investigation and interviews."

However, Colonel Ennis added, the "real hero" in the case was a parent of one of the subjects who stepped forward and reported his dependent was involved in theft. "I'm sure there is a small number of people who may have mixed feelings about this parent holding their child accountable for his/her actions," Colonel Ennis explained. "But in the long run, those few who would choose otherwise show a troubling lack of concern for their child's development of character and integrity. As a community, we are very fortunate to have a very large majority of parents who are raising their kids right and teaching precepts that will reward them for a life time."