Japan Confirms More Saga Police DNA Misconduct Cases

Tokyo, June 4 (Jiji Press)–The number of improper DNA analysis cases conducted by a former Saga prefectural police forensic employee rose to 239 from 130 identified in an internal probe, Japan’s National Police Agency said Thursday. The NPA released a report on a special inspection that reviewed 643 DNA tests linked to the former employee of the police in southwestern prefecture. The report said the agency cannot rule out the possibility that investigations were negatively affected in 37 cases, including those in which retesting was impossible. The agency nevertheless concluded that the series of misconduct cases did not lead to the arrest or detention of the wrong person or affect trials. “We take it seriously that the public’s trust in DNA testing, an important pillar of detailed and proper investigations, has been damaged,” Commissioner-General Yoshinobu Kusunoki told a news conference. “We will make sure that measures are taken to prevent a recurrence and will work to regain confidence in forensic examinations.” The Saga police recognized the misconduct in 2024 and referred the former employee to prosecutors in September 2025 on suspicion of preparing and using false official documents bearing seals. The employee was subsequently dismissed on disciplinary grounds. The agency launched a special inspection the following month to check the prefectural police’s internal probe and corrective measures. A 35-strong team, including experts from the National Research Institute of Police Science, conducted interviews and re-examined evidence. The report identified 110 additional irregularities, including the reuse of data from other electrophoretic tests, failure to conduct required testing and mix-ups between forensic materials. Of them, 18 cases could not be conclusively deemed free of investigative impact. The inspection also found misconduct dating back to August 2016, earlier than the June 2017 starting point identified by the Saga police. At the same time, one of the 130 cases the prefectural police classified as improper was found not to constitute misconduct. The agency said the gap in case numbers “came from differences in staffing, expertise and items reviewed,” adding that “the probe by the prefectural police was not flawed despite ultimately proving incomplete.” According to the report, irregular practices by the former employee included the concealment of analytical errors and deficiencies, as well as the manipulation of dates and numerical data to avoid scrutiny from supervisors during approval procedures. The agency did not disclose the former employee’s motive, citing vague recollections and ongoing judicial proceedings. It said the misconduct stemmed not only from ethical failures by the former employee but also from excessive workloads, inadequate checks during analytical procedures, weaknesses in data and equipment management. As countermeasures, the agency pledged stronger guidance for prefectural police, regular audits and the appointment of outside experts as forensic advisers to review laboratory practices. To ease the workload of forensic personnel, the agency will consider reviewing and reclassifying cases that require forensic analysis. It issued a notification to prefectural police on measures to prevent a recurrence of such misconduct, including stricter appraisal procedures and enhanced staff support. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]