Police under fire in Osaka as over 200 officers warned for misconduct

The Osaka police force has failed to punish over 200 officers for bad behavior

A total of 211 police officers with Osaka Prefectural Police received warnings and cautions in 2024 due to poor behavior.

Among these, adultery and harassment were the most common offenses, with 37 and 53 cases respectively.

Though this was a decrease of 39 from 2023, the number is still objectively high considering the acts were committed by serving police officers.

Osaka Prefectural Police only revealed these statistics due to a freedom of information request

These figures highlight persistent issues of misconduct within the force, ranging from personal ethical lapses to potentially serious violations of professional conduct.

Police behavior has been under public scrutiny in Japan given recent events that have seen police officers arrested for entering a female changing area and fired for driving under the influence.

A Freedom of Information Act request brought to light a disturbing incident from 2024 where two police officers, one a member of the Public Security Division 1 and the other a police inspector from the Ikuno Police Station’s Criminal Affairs Division, were referred to prosecutors on suspicion of illegal online casino gambling.

Osaka Prefectural Police headquarters — Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters is located in the Chuo Ward of Osaka City

While both individuals escaped formal indictment as their prosecutions were deferred, the revelation of their alleged activities casts a long shadow over the force.

Both officers reportedly amassed gambling debts exceeding 20 million yen (approx. $130,401 USD/£104,178 GBP).

Image of Japanese Yen — The two officers built up substantial gambling debts

The Osaka Prefectural Police did not disclose the internal disciplinary measures taken until the freedom of information request was received.

The force cited their own internal disclosure standards as justification for withholding information from the public at the time, claiming it did not meet the requirements that would require it to be disclosed.

Despite the deferred prosecutions, the two officers faced internal disciplinary action.

Man gambling at a laptop — Online gambling is illegal in Japan, a fact that officers should be familiar with

Both received a one-month 10% pay cut. The inspector, facing up to the consequences of his actions, subsequently voluntarily resigned from the force.

This gambling incident is just one example of internal disciplinary actions taken by the Osaka Prefectural Police in 2024.

It is important to note that while 211 individuals received warnings and cautions, such steps are not considered to be a disciplinary action by the police force.

Only 14 personnel actually faced internal disciplinary measures in 2024, a decrease from 19 in 2023.

Osaka Prefectural Police officers — Osaka Prefectural Police are accused of not upholding high standards for officers

The breakdown of these punishments for 2024 includes two dismissals, seven suspensions, and five pay cuts, including those related to the gambling case.

While the overall number of disciplinary actions decreased compared to the previous year, the nature of the infractions raises concerns especially when compared with the larger number of officers who were warned due to poor behavior but not disciplined.

There also appears to be a lack of consistency with respect to applying disciplinary actions, as a police inspector from the Osaka Prefectural Police Detention Management Division only received a warning for losing documents containing personal information for approximately 70 individuals, including suspects in custody.

An image of a computer keyboard, with a key labelled "data privacy" — Data protection and privacy is taken seriously by most government and police agencies around the world

In many international jurisdictions, a data breach on this scale would be investigated by an independent body and both the individual and police force could be subject to substantial fines.

This particular incident raises serious concerns about data security and the protection of sensitive information within the police department as well as a lack of accountability, given the officer only received a warning for what should have been considered a serious breach.

In comparison, a police lieutenant from an unnamed police station was also given a similar warning after improperly using the Osaka Prefectural Police’s lost property search system to locate a family member’s rescued cat.

A cat in a cage — Misusing computer systems has a broad scope, but searching for a lost cat can rarely be considered as severe as losing significant amounts of private data

That the police force appears to have treated a substantial data breach as being on par with a misjudged attempt to search for a lost cat, calls into question whether they are correctly assessing the severity of the actions of officers who may be engaging in poor, unethical or criminal behavior.

The cumulative effect of these incidents, from gambling allegations to lost documents and misuse of police systems, paints a troubling picture of the Osaka Prefectural Police.

Japanese police officers lined up for inspection — Japanese police forces are under scrutiny after a number of recent incidents which have eroded public trust

The lack of transparency surrounding disciplinary measures, particularly in the gambling case, only serves to erode public trust.

As the details of these incidents come to light, the need for greater accountability and a renewed focus on ethical conduct within the force becomes increasingly apparent.

Source: Mainichi Shimbun