Photo/Illutration Yoshinobu Kusunoki, head of the National Police Agency, speaks at a regular news conference in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward on Oct. 2. (Daichi Itakura)

The National Police Agency will launch a special investigation into falsified DNA tests and other misconduct by a Saga prefectural police forensic analyst starting from Oct. 8. 

NPA Commissioner-General Yoshinobu Kusunoki made the announcement at a regular news conference on Oct. 2.

“We are taking the incident seriously because it undermines people’s trust in DNA testing,” Kusunoki said. “We will implement thorough countermeasures to prevent such an incident from occurring again.”

The now fired forensic analyst who belonged to the prefectural police department’s forensic science lab repeatedly falsified DNA analysis reports related to police investigations.

The NPA plans to conduct special inspections to verify the details of the misconduct, investigate why these wrongdoings repeatedly occurred and assess the preventive measures against a recurrence by the prefectural police.

The Saga Bar Association and others have called for an independent investigation by a third party. 

Special investigations are conducted when serious misconduct occurs within prefectural police departments and are deemed necessary to maintain discipline.

The probe will be conducted by the NPA’s Chief Inspection Officer, officials from the NPA’s Criminal Affairs Bureau, and DNA testing specialists from the affiliated National Research Institute of Police Science.

They will examine the structure and the actual situation on procedures for DNA testing at the Saga prefectural police from an expert point of view.

Based on the results, the NPA will consider conducting inspections of other prefectural and Tokyo’s forensic labs to ensure that DNA testing is being properly conducted.

130 CASES OF MISCONDUCT

The scandal involves a former staff member who repeatedly falsified DNA testing records between 2017 and 2024, pretending to have conducted tests that were never performed, and returned bogus samples to police stations after losing the originals.

A total of 130 cases of inappropriate actions have been identified.

On Sept. 8, Saga prefectural police announced that it had dismissed the staffer and sent papers to prosecutors for 13 of the 130 cases on suspicion of falsifying official documents among other allegations.

The prefectural police said that the misconduct did not affect any investigations or trials of suspects.

The department also announced that it had introduced preventive measures, such as requiring supervisors to be present at each stage of testing and implementing checks by multiple staff members.

However, on Sept. 9, the Saga Bar Association issued a statement from its president criticizing the internal investigation as lacking fairness, and called for an independent investigation by a third party.

On Sept. 29, the Japan Federation of Bar Associations also issued a statement from its president, urging the Justice Ministry and the NPA to establish a third-party body to examine the impact of the misconduct on investigations and criminal trials.

In response, Hideyuki Fukuda, head of Saga prefectural police, said at a news conference that the prefectural police did not need a third-party investigation.

According to the NPA, since 2011 when related record-keeping began, special investigations by the NPA have been conducted against four prefectural police departments: Aichi, Osaka, Okayama and Kagoshima. They were instituted following serious incidents such as drinking and sexual misconduct in detention facilities.

The most recent probe was conducted in Kagoshima between June and August last year, following the arrests of multiple police officers from the prefectural police department. 

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