Police Officer Allegedly Leaks 100s of Case Documents

Apr 09, 2024 | News On Japan

KAGOSHIMA, Apr 09, 2024 (News On Japan) - A police officer from the Kagoshima Prefectural Police has been arrested on suspicion of violating the Local Public Service Act by leaking internal documents containing personal information of individuals involved in criminal cases to a third party.

Last month, the prefectural police revealed that there was a high possibility that internal documents from over 100 cases had been leaked, and the connection is currently under investigation. The arrested officer is Sergeant Mitsuji Fujii (49), from the community affairs division of the Sō Police Station.

According to the police, Sergeant Fujii, who was assigned to the Public Security Division of the Kagoshima Prefectural Police Headquarters in June of last year, used a messaging app on his smartphone to send information about a specific individual's criminal history to a third party. Additionally, last month he mailed several dozen pages of internal documents, including a list called the "Complaint and Accusation Case Processing Ledger," which contained personal information of individuals involved in criminal cases, thus allegedly leaking confidential information from his duties. In response to the investigation, he has admitted to the allegations and has stated, "I apologize for causing trouble to the citizens of the prefecture and the police organization."

The leak of internal documents came to light when an article by an online media outlet, which questioned the investigation of a sexual assault case that occurred at a lodging facility for COVID-19 patients, published the "Complaint and Accusation Case Processing Ledger" with personal information redacted. Last month, the Kagoshima Prefectural Police disclosed that there was a high possibility that internal documents containing personal information of approximately 300 individuals from over 100 cases had been leaked, and they discovered this incident while investigating the route of the leak.

Sei Ushigaki, Chief Inspector of the Kagoshima Prefectural Police Headquarters, expressed his apologies at a press conference, saying, "I deeply apologize for the inconvenience and concern caused by the leakage of information that should have been properly managed. We will deal with this matter strictly based on the results of the ongoing investigation."

Source: NHK

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