U.S. military police patrol Gate 2 Street during a joint patrol of Okinawa city, Okinawa, Sept. 27, 2025. (Brian McElhiney/Stars and Stripes)

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — U.S. military police will expand solo patrols to Okinawa prefecture’s capital city, continuing an effort to stem crime by service members following a series of high-profile sexual assaults.

The first solo patrol by the U.S. military in Naha city will take place between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. Nov. 1, a city spokesman said by phone Thursday.

“We were noticed by the U.S. side about the patrol on Tuesday, but we have not received details such as the number of officers involved or the specific district it will cover,” he said.

The city urged the U.S. military to “be careful not to cause anxiety to citizens and tourists,” according to the spokesman.

“We have no objection to the solo patrols,” he said. Some Japanese government officials are required to speak to the press on condition of anonymity.

A spokesman for U.S. Forces Japan, Army Maj. D. Hunter Nix, declined by email Thursday to provide times and locations of upcoming patrols, citing concerns for operational security.

“Patrols with our Japanese partners are proving effective in upholding the good order and discipline of U.S. service members stationed across Japan,” he said.

Marine Corps Installations Pacific commander Maj. Gen. Brian Wolford met with Mayor Satoru Chinen on Oct. 10 at Naha city hall to explain how the joint patrols have operated since April in Okinawa city, the Naha spokesman said Friday.

Chinen rejected Wolford’s plans to expand joint police patrols into his municipality, reasoning that Naha’s “situation is different from Okinawa city” because of its distance from U.S. bases and its lack of a nightlife district comparable to Gate 2 Street, he said.

However, Chinen did not rule out solo patrols by U.S. military police, the spokesman said.

Solo patrols were carried out nightly in Okinawa city between Oct. 10 and Oct. 13, Nix said by email Oct. 16. 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.

During the most recent joint patrol on Sept. 27, four service members were arrested and two more were taken into custody during the first solo patrol on Sept. 13, according to USFJ. Three Marines were arrested and six others detained during a joint patrol on Aug. 16, according to the Marine Corps.

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.