Photo/Illutration The Metropolitan Police Department’s headquarters in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The chief of the Machida Police Station in Tokyo resigned on Aug. 18 after being reprimanded for sexually harassing female officers about their looks and “bride training,” the Metropolitan Police Department said.

The MPD reprimanded the 59-year-old assistant commissioner on Aug. 7. He was scheduled to retire next spring, but he quit the police force and was immediately replaced.

The MPD started its investigation into the matter after its first personnel division, which handles internal affairs, received an anonymous report.

According to the MPD, the police chief, who had a history of making inappropriate comments, said during the investigation: “I thought I was being careful about how I interacted with staff. … I’m so sorry.”

At a gathering in April this year, the chief told a female officer living in a police dormitory that she would “struggle with bride training.”

“Since meals are provided in the dorm, you don’t cook for yourself,” he reportedly said. “So, you won’t be able to cook in the future.”

He was also quoted as telling her, “The birthrate will fall.”

Another time, he reportedly told a female officer who was not wearing makeup, “You've returned to how you looked.”

He also said to another female officer, “You look like an elementary school student.”

The MPD determined that these remarks constituted sexual harassment.

The Machida Police Station has around 600 officers, making it the second largest in Tokyo.

The rank of assistant commissioner is a senior position that carries the status of a national public servant. Among officers employed by local governments, only a small fraction of them can achieve this rank.

The reprimand he received was not a formal disciplinary action but rather a supervisory measure. But it came from the superintendent general, the most serious in this category.

Since there had been similar complaints against him in the past, the MPD considered his actions malicious and chose a strict measure.

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