Japanese police officer quits after busted for driving patrol cars without license

Apr 27, 2019 | News On Japan

Apr 27, 2019 (Japan Times) - A female police officer resigned Friday after it was revealed that sheâ€™d been driving patrol cars around the city of Kawagoe since November despite the fact she didnâ€™t have a driving license.

â€œI thought Iâ€™d be forced to resign from the Criminal Investigations Bureau if I admitted I didnâ€™t have a license,â€ the Saitama Prefectural Police quoted the 22-year-old as saying.

The police said earlier Friday that the officer, who belonged to the Kawagoe Police Stationâ€™s Criminal Affairs Division, had been referred to prosecutors and suspended for six months. Her referral was based on the allegation that she drove police cars four times in Kawagoe from Jan. 10 to 15.

The deceptive officer, however, apparently got behind the wheel of Kawagoeâ€™s police cruisers some 10 to 20 times before she was found out.

Her secret came to light when she was questioned after an accident in the Kawagoe Police Stationâ€™s parking lot on Jan. 16. That forced her to reveal that she had been driving with only a motorcycle license.

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