June 17, 2026

Akahata editorial (excerpts)

In 2025, the number of police officers and police personnel facing disciplinary action rose to 337 by 98, a 41% increase from the previous year, marking the highest number over the past ten years.

Last year’s wrongful conviction case involving Ohkawara Kakohki Co., Ltd., in which 19 senior officials from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department were disciplined, was a particularly malicious and serious police crime. They fabricated charges that the company had illegally exported spray dryers that could be repurposed for military use. According to the findings of audit and inspection commissioners of the Tokyo Metropolitan government, the Public Security Bureau of the Metropolitan Police Department committed numerous illegal acts that violate penal laws, including fabricating evidence and concealing incriminating facts. This was a typical example of “playing to the higher-ups”, an attempt to achieve results in the area of economic security, on which the state government has begun to focus, in order to gain praise from their superiors.

A former assistant inspector who blew the whistle on the fabrication by public security police said, “I wanted to be a police officer my children could be proud of.” (Mainichi Shimbun, May 28)

Many police officers work tirelessly to protect citizens from criminal activities and disasters. However, numerous issues that betray public expectations have been highlighted, such as trampling on the principle of “non-partisan and impartial”, prioritizing the public security police, and granting privileges to career officers.

These distortions came to light in the false accusation case involving the aforementioned company.

To restore public confidence, it is necessary to dismantle the secret police, establish a public security commission independent from the police, and abolish the privileges of the career officer system. Reforms are essential to ensure that law enforcement officers with a sense of mission and pride can carry out the work the general public expects of them.