Thursday, July 24, 2008

Cops punished for handing cigarettes, cell phone to detainee, violently treating youths

YOKOHAMA -- A police sergeant and three other officers who provided cigarettes and a cell phone to a detainee have been punished, while another officer accused of injuring a detained youth was reported to prosecutors, law enforcers said.

The Kanagawa Prefectural Police Inspection Office announced punishments, including at least one 10 percent pay cut for six months, for the four officers on Tuesday. Among the four were a 56-year-old officer from Kagacho Police Station, and a 47-year-old senior officer.

Investigators said that the four supplied snacks to a 43-year-old truck driver who was being held on suspicion of intimidation, after he made a row during a police night shift in January. Later the man made threats, saying, "I'll tell your bosses (that you've violated regulations). I'll go wild." In response, the officers handed him cigarettes and gave him access to a cell phone on about 90 occasions. Their actions were uncovered in March.

In addition, police announced that a 39-year-old officer accused of violently treating three youths who made a row at a facility for juveniles at Kawasaki Police Station had been reprimanded. He was reported to public prosecutors on suspicion of injuring one of the youths.

"We want to work to prevent recurrences of such incidents," an Inspection Office official said.

神奈川県警:留置中に携帯提供などで5人懲戒処分

 神奈川県警監察官室は22日、恐喝容疑などで逮捕・拘置されたトラック運転手の男(43)に、たばこや携帯電話などを渡したとして、加賀町署の男性巡査部長(56)と男性巡査長(47)ら4人を減給10分の1(6カ月)などの懲戒処分にしたと発表した。

 調べでは、警務課管理係の4人は1月中旬、夜間当直中に男が留置場で騒いだため、菓子などを提供。その後、男から「上司に(規則違反を)言うよ。暴れちゃうよ」と脅され、計約90回にわたってたばこやライター、はさみ、携帯電話などを渡した。3月中旬の異動を機に発覚した。

 また川崎署の留置施設少年室で、騒いだ少年3人に暴行したとして、同署管理係の男性巡査部長(39)を戒告の懲戒処分にし、1人にけがをさせた特別公務員暴行陵虐致傷容疑で横浜地検に書類送検した。西村昇・県警監察官室長は「誠に遺憾であり、再発防止に努めたい」とコメントした。【鈴木一生】

Mainichi Newspaper

July 23rd, 2008

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Police ID, uniform stolen from car of officer playing pachinko

NICHINAN, Miyazaki -- Two bags containing a police officer's identification and a uniform were stolen from his car while he was playing pachinko here, law enforcers said.

Fearing that the ID and other items could be used for criminal purposes, every officer at Nichinan Police Station was dispatched to look for the bags.

Investigators said the 30-year-old officer had been on night duty and finished his shift Sunday morning. Shortly after noon, he went to a pachinko parlor in Nichinan in his own car. When he returned to his car about four hours later, he found that the window on the passenger's side of the vehicle had been smashed, and two bags containing his identification, name cards and a uniform had been stolen from the vehicle.

"The officer lacked care in not carrying his police identification with him," a police station official said. "We will put every effort into the investigation, and will work to prevent such an incident in the future."

警察手帳:宮崎県警の巡査長、パチンコ中に車から盗まれる

 20日午後4時すぎ、宮崎県警日南署交通課の巡査長(30)から同署に「警察手帳などの入ったバッグを盗まれた」と連絡があった。同署は手帳などが悪用される恐れもあるため、全署員を出勤させバッグを探している。

 調べでは、巡査長はこの日宿直明けで午前中まで勤務。正午過ぎから自家用車で日南市平野のパチンコ店に行き、約4時間後に駐車場に止めていた車に戻ったところ、助手席の窓ガラスが割られて車内にあったバッグ2個が盗まれていた。バッグには手帳のほか、名刺や交通捜査用の制服などが入っていた。

 同署の吉田繁人副署長は「警察手帳を携行しなかったのは、注意不足だった。全力を挙げて捜査し、再発防止に努めたい」と話している。【塩満温】

Mainichi Newspaper

July 21st, 2008

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Cop tried to cover up blunder over fuel-soaked man who ignited self during questioning

NAGOYA -- A police sergeant tried to cover up an investigation blunder after he and his colleagues gave a kerosene-soaked man a lighter for a cigarette during questioning, and the man fatally set himself alight, investigators said.

A 54-year-old sergeant at Atsuta Police Station in Aichi Prefecture has admitted to having taken away the lighter and an ashtray from the interrogation room and hiding them right after the fatal fire.

Aichi Prefectural Police sent papers accusing the sergeant, as well as two senior officers aged 28 and 25 and a 24-year-old officer who brought the lighter into the interrogation room, of professional negligence resulting in death.

"I thought it would not look good if it turned out that we let the man smoke inside the interrogation room, as smoking is prohibited," the sergeant told investigators in admitting to the allegations.

The four officers took custody of Hifumi Kubota, 45, an unemployed man from Nagoya, late at night on May 10 after he was found drunk and had soaked himself in kerosene, according to local police.

The officers questioned Kubota at their police station from around 11:15 p.m. to 12:15 a.m. the following day.

When the officers tried to have Kubota undergo a sobriety test, he demanded that he be allowed to smoke a cigarette. "I'll agree if you let me smoke," he was quoted as telling the officers.

The policemen then brought in a cigarette, a lighter and an ashtray while neglecting to watch over Kubota, investigators said. Kubota lit the lighter and subsequently caught fire.

After the incident, it emerged that the lighter and the ashtray had disappeared from the interrogation room.

One of the three policemen, who were inside the interrogation room, initially told police, "We don't know what happened to them (the lighter and the ashtray)." However, it turned out later that the 54-year-old sergeant had taken away the objects from the room after the incident and hid them in the kitchen at the police station.

The ashtray was later discovered, but the lighter has reportedly not turned up yet, according to police. Investigators suspect that a third person unaware of the circumstances may have taken the lighter.

The three policemen told investigators that they didn't see how the fire started, but a police experiment proved that clothes would not catch fire from a cigarette flame alone. Aichi Prefectural Police have determined that Kubota's clothes caught fire directly from the lighter.

熱田署取調室焼死:巡査部長「ライター隠した」 発覚恐れ

 愛知県警熱田署で5月、酔って保護された名古屋市熱田区の無職、久保田一二三(ひふみ)さん(当時45歳)が取調室で焼死した事件で、同署地域課の巡査部長(54)が県警の調べに対し、出火直後に取調室からライターと灰皿を持ち出して隠したことを認めていることが3日、分かった。巡査部長は「禁煙の取調室でたばこを吸わせたことが発覚するとまずいと思った」などと話しているという。県警は4日にもこの巡査部長ら署員4人を業務上過失致死容疑で書類送検する。

 ほかに書類送検されるのは、取調室にいた28歳と25歳の巡査長と、室内にライターを持ち込んだ巡査(24)の3人。

 県警刑事総務課などの調べでは、4人は5月10日午後11時15分から11日午前0時15分ごろにかけて、酔って自ら灯油を浴びた久保田さんを保護して同署取調室で聴取。飲酒検知をしようとしたところ「たばこを吸わせてくれれば応じる」と要求されたため、たばこ、ライター、灰皿を用意したうえ監視を怠り、久保田さんにライターを使わせ焼死させた疑い。

 事件後、取調室からライターと灰皿がなくなっていることが判明。取調室にいた3人は当初、県警の調べに「どうなったか分からない」と話していたが、その後、巡査部長が自分で持ち出し、署の炊事場に隠したことを認めたという。灰皿は見つかったが、ライターはいまだに見つかっていないといい、事情を知らない第三者がさらに別の場所に持ち去った可能性もある。

 一方、3人は「どのように出火したか見ていない」と話しているが、再現実験でたばこの火では衣類に引火しないことが判明。県警はライターの火が直接衣類に引火したと断定した。【飯田和樹、福島祥】

July 4th, 2008

Mainichi Newspaper

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Senior policeman reprimanded for losing handbook ID

YAMAGUCHI -- A senior policeman has been reprimanded for losing his police handbook, which serves as his identification, at the end of last year, police said.

The announcement came on Monday after news organizations pointed out that Yamaguchi Prefectural Police had not disclosed that the policeman was reprimanded in May.

According to police, a senior policeman in his 30s at the Yamaguchi Prefectural Police's Chofu Police Station realized that he had lost his police handbook and reported it to his superior on Dec. 18 last year.

The senior policeman was quoted as telling police that he remembers having had the handbook in a pocket of his jacket until early December, but he doesn't remember when and where he lost the item because he failed to check on his belongings every day as all policemen are required to do.

"I thought my police handbook was inside my office desk, but it wasn't. I don't recall what happened (when I lost the handbook) and have no idea about the details."

Prefectural police issued an order to police forces across the nation on Dec. 21 to search for the handbook, but it has not been found yet.

A prefectural police representative said in a statement, "We will once again instruct all employees on the management of their police handbooks in order to prevent a recurrence."

警察手帳:山口県警長府署の巡査長が昨年12月に紛失

 山口県警長府署地域課の30代の男性巡査長が昨年12月、警察手帳を紛失していたことが分かった。巡査長は今年5月、本部長訓戒処分を受けたが、県警は公表していなかった。報道機関の指摘を受け30日発表した。

 県警監察官室によると、巡査長は昨年12月18日、紛失に気付き上司に報告した。同月上旬には上着のポケットに入れていたが、毎日行うべき携帯品のチェックを怠っており、紛失時の状況について記憶がないという。県警は同月21日、全国に手配したが、現在も見つかっていない。

 巡査長は「職場の机の中にあると思ったがなかった。当時の記憶はなく詳細は分からない」と話しているという。

 藤井文雄・監察官室長は「全職員に改めて警察手帳の保管・管理について指導し、再発防止の徹底を図る」とのコメントを発表した。【藤沢美由紀】

Mainichi Newspaper

July 1, 2008