Superintendent at Japan's Hyogo police hid handcuff loss for 12 years
KOBE -- A superintendent at Hyogo Prefectural Police concealed that he had lost a pair of handcuffs for 12 years, and revealed the fact just before retirement recently, the Mainichi Shimbun has learned through a freedom-of-information request.
The superintendent in his 60s, who was scheduled to retire in March, confessed to the loss before returning items that had been issued to him and left the force after receiving an admonishment from the police affairs department chief. In the investigation, he reportedly explained, "I didn't come clean because I wanted to advance in my career."
According to a source close to the investigation, the former superintendent lost a pair of handcuffs and its key around July 2012 while serving as a chief inspector in the security division at a police station in the prefecture's Toban area. He searched for the items but could not find them, and did not report the loss to his superiors.
The prefectural police conduct regular inspections of possessions, but at the time of the loss, the former superintendent was responsible for checking his subordinates' items and concealed his own loss. The handcuffs remain missing, and the circumstances of the loss are unclear, but there is apparently no evidence of misuse.
He reported the loss March 26. The prefectural police's inspector's office carried out an investigation over two days and issued an admonishment March 28. On March 27, the police issued a notice requiring all employees to undergo a visual inspection of their possessions.
(Japanese original by Yuta Shibayama, Kobe Bureau)
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