MPD head facing rebuke over cop's murder-suicide

The Yomiuri Shimbun

The National Public Safety Commission is considering disciplining Metropolitan Police Department Superintendent General Takayoshi Yashiro in connection with the suicide of a senior police officer, which occurred after the officer apparently shot and killed a woman last month.

Hidekazu Tomono, 40, of Tachikawa Police Station is believed to have taken his own life after killing pub employee, Yoko Sato, 32.

Disciplinary action is being considered under the National Public Service Law. The commission could decide on whether and how to discipline Yashiro at its regular conference on Thursday.

Yashiro took up his post on Aug. 6, only two weeks before the suicide occurred. However, to maintain public trust, the commission concluded that they should examine to what extent Yashiro, as the newly appointed head of the organization, bore responsibility for the incident.

(Sep. 16, 2007)