U.S. military police patrol Gate 2 Street alongside Japanese police and commuity members in Okinawa city, Okinawa, Dec. 6, 2025. (Ryan M. Breeden/Stars and Stripes)
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — The U.S. military will not resume solo police patrols in Okinawa’s nightlife districts until investigators complete their review of an incident in which a military police officer slammed an American civilian to the ground outside a bar last year, a senior Marine commander said.
Maj. Gen. Brian Wolford, head of Marine Corps Installations Pacific, said the patrols will remain suspended while officials examine the Nov. 22 confrontation and retrain military police.
“Part of the conditions of starting the unilateral patrols is, make sure we fix the problem,” he told a media roundtable Friday at Ocean Breeze on Foster. “And to fix the problem, we have to complete the investigation and make sure we have the right training to make sure nothing like that happens again.”
The patrols were halted after a military police officer stopped American tourist Kareem El outside a bar on Gate 2 Street, a busy nightlife strip near Kadena Air Base. Video of the officer lifting El and slamming him onto the pavement spread widely on social media.
Maj. Gen. Brian Wolford, commander of Marine Corps Installations Pacific, hosts a media roundtable at Ocean Breeze on Camp Foster, Okinawa, Feb. 27, 2026. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)
Following the incident, the commander of U.S. Forces Japan, Air Force Lt. Gen. Stephen Jost, ordered the patrols paused and directed an investigation.
Japanese police continue to accompany American military police on joint patrols, which have taken place on Gate 2 Street several times since the November incident.
Jost will ultimately decide when solo patrols may resume, Wolford said.
There are “no updates on unilateral patrols yet,” USFJ’s spokesman, Air Force Col. John Severns, told Stars and Stripes in an email Monday.
In the meantime, Marine provost officers are undergoing retraining on how to carry out patrols, including understanding their authority under Japanese law and using de-escalation techniques, Wolford said.
Joint patrols were introduced in Okinawa city on April 19 to reduce crime and misconduct involving U.S. service members in Okinawa’s entertainment districts, where tensions between locals and the large American military presence have periodically flared.
Solo patrols in the city began Sept. 13, and expanded to Okinawa’s capital, Naha, on Nov. 1.
Since the November incident, U.S. military police have patrolled Gate 2 Street with Okinawa Prefectural Police on Dec. 6, Jan. 30 and Saturday.
The patrols have helped reduce “serious incidents” involving U.S. service members, Wolford said.
