7 Kanagawa Police Officers Referred to Prosecutors

Yokohama, Feb. 20 (Jiji Press)–Seven officers of the Kanagawa prefectural police department were referred to prosecutors on Friday for allegedly falsifying traffic violation tickets and related investigation reports. The police department of Kanagawa, south of Tokyo, will cancel some 2,700 traffic violation cases that are believed to be based on falsified documents. The police will refund a total of 35 million yen paid in fines for the violations. According to the prefectural police, the seven served in the same squad, and a veteran sergeant was at the center of the misconduct. The remaining six were unable to point out the problem, and falsifying such paperwork became routine. “We deeply apologize for undermining public trust in our traffic enforcement,” Tsuyoshi Imamura, chief of the prefectural police, said at a press conference. The prefectural police dismissed the sergeant. Five of the seven officers and two former superiors received disciplinary measures including suspension and pay reductions. Additionally, five others, including one deemed less culpable and the then-commander of the second traffic patrol unit, received reprimands or warnings from the prefectural police chief. Four senior officers in the prefectural police traffic division received verbal warnings. The National Police Agency will also issue verbal warnings to a former chief of the prefectural police and a traffic division chief for damaging public trust through their delayed response. The seven officers are suspected of inflating the distances covered by unmarked patrol cars chasing violators that were recorded on three traffic violation tickets issued to crack down on speeding and tailgating between January and July 2024. They also allegedly created false on-the-spot investigation reports six times between 2022 and 2024. All of them have admitted to the charges, according to the prefectural police. The misconduct came to light in August 2024 based on a claim by a person ticketed for a traffic violation. The prefectural police determined that there was potential for altering figures or falsifying data in 2,696 traffic violation cases involving the sergeant and in 52 on-site investigation reports created by the squad. The seven officers were referred to prosecutors over nine of the 2,700 cases that were found to contain fabricated figures based on dashcam footage. However, the violations themselves were not fabricated, the police said. A total of 1,065 individuals experienced adverse changes to their license classification, such as losing their status as a safe driver. The police plan to take corrective action against 100 license revocation or suspension cases involving drivers living in 36 of the country’s 47 prefectures. The prefectural police will set up a consultation desk, planning to mobilize 290 officials to refund the fines and compensate for economic losses caused by the misconduct. To prevent recurrence, the police plan to appoint supervisors and conduct surprise checks to ensure that procedures to issue traffic violations are followed properly using dashcam images and location information. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]