On-duty officer apparently shoots himself at Tokyo police station

Monday 22nd September, 03:29 PM JST

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

› Login to comment

Latest 15 of 35 Total Comments Show All

Taka313 at 01:38 AM JST - 23rd September

USNinJapan,

That was a good one. I remember seeing the Cheng smoking on the fantail while underway years ago. I looked at him and said, "Hey Cheng, that's the sun; we get that up here."

Studies have shown that not only do long hours really play havoc with the mind, constantly rotating from night shifts to day shifts also has a bad effect.

No matter what the cause, it is sad to see someone take their own life. I feel for the man's family.

Taka
KitsuneYoukai at 03:23 AM JST - 23rd September

Okay, shooting himself over 3 lost traffic tickets seems to be an assumption in this article. I don't think so, come on! This sounds fishy. Was with his colleagues then goes and commits suicide???? Not that it can't happen but it sounds to me like this guy at 26 was just starting his career as a police officer. It doesn't make any sense!!!!
bushlover at 03:41 AM JST - 23rd September

Murdered by bully superiors!! Thats it. Or vengeful Yaks? The plot thickens.
Smythe at 04:19 AM JST - 23rd September

Three lost traffic tickets are NOT what caused this police officer to shoot himself. It would be the 24hrs on duty even if one was not doing anthing important it is the continual stress & strain on the chap's mind.

True I was "on call 24 hrs a day" which means after 8 hrs at work I went home & basically came back the next morning to normal work. On very rare occasions I was on call to do something in my line of work.

Obviously my "on call 24 hrs a day" was TOTALLY different.

Also I am sorry to read about this police officer, his family & those related to him. It was not having an "Accidentaly Discharge" of the f/arm it was the strain & stress of all his hours on duty.

I never thought of becoming a police officer in Cdn once I realized the CRAZY shift ours they had to work not to mention the strain of upholding what is THE LAW along with all the paper-work. YET that is not like said police officer that had to put in his 24 hrs.
Thenewfront at 04:20 AM JST - 23rd September

At least he didn't take a load of innocents to the grave with him.

Probably had too much of a guilty conscience rom his job. Japanese police either are corrupt or deliberatly ignorant of what goes on around them.

A few whistleblowers may help clean up the force.
MeanRingo at 05:05 AM JST - 23rd September

Everyone is worried about the cops working these 24hr shifts. Come on people, this is the J-police. They just cop a nap at a koban and then when the criminals are done the knock on the door and turn themselves in. I've dealt with Japanese cops. They are inept in every sense of the word. 8 cops taking 8 hours to file ONE train chikan report says it all. Pathetic. I would look for other reasons than a tough work schedule for this fella's demise. Problems with a girl, a superior etc, etc. Or perhaps there is always the other police committing crimes excuse... he was drinking.
Mark_McCracken at 07:53 AM JST - 23rd September

Couldn't police determine by the amount of gunshot residue how close the gun was to his head, to determine if the shooting was accidental (dropped gun)or suicide?
bushlover at 08:02 AM JST - 23rd September

Being a Japanese Police Officer on a 24 hr. shift maybe he shot himself out of boredom. Just a thought.
marvenp at 01:13 PM JST - 23rd September

How the hell do you drop a gun to your head? Especially in a bathroom stall? Suicide 99.9% likely. The question is why? It's sad that a human life was lost, but scary to think this guy was a police officer with access to a gun and could have hurt and/or killed a lot of people before his demise. A sign of troubling times.
Alphaape at 02:33 PM JST - 23rd September

USN, I guess you are of the NATOPS school that all you need is 8 hours a night, and all the sleep you get in the daytime is just extra.

Working a 24 hour shift could be done, if done correctly. Even firefighter get to sleep in the station house if they are not on call. I am sure that there is plenty of room to take a nap in shifts in the back of a koban.
cleo at 03:21 PM JST - 23rd September

I am sure that there is plenty of room to take a nap in shifts in the back of a koban.

There is a 'kaminshitsu' where officers can catch a few minutes shut-eye if things are quiet. Problem is, things are rarely quiet ; it's when the rest of us are sleeping that the worms come out of the woodwork and make demands on police time. Lots of posters like to amuse themselves and the rest of us cracking jokes about police sleeping the afternoon away in the koban, but that officer nodding in his chair has probably been awake all night dealing with drunks, domestic squabbles and stroppy teenage runaways. Not to mention the slightly dippy lonely oldies who come in for a chat and a cup of tea at three in the morning regular as clockwork. And he'll be on call until the same time tomorrow.
NetteMarie at 04:26 PM JST - 23rd September

marvenp

Who knew people could be hit by fatal falling bullets?

He was found on a toilet and his gun is attached to his belt. If he drops his pants and the gun hits the floor at an angle. It could have shot him in the head.

Or it was his co-workers and it's a set up.
USNinJapan2 at 05:30 PM JST - 23rd September

Alphaape

Yes, NATOPS. The big blue sleeping pill. Everything about it is a pain in the ass except for the bit about required hours of sleep... : )
Alphaape at 08:21 PM JST - 23rd September

cleo, your points are well put. I have seen the many comments about napping J-cops in the koban. I think that we are sometime not aware that they do have to in some cases put in 24 hour shifts, and I have no problem with them getting a nap whenever they can. I myself have spent numerous hours "tango-uniform" when out at sea working shift work when I was not required to do something.

But I think what gets the perception about most J-cops and their sleeping in kobans is by the way they seem to handle high profile crimes that makes them look bad. Like the case of not knowing that a life-sized dummy was not a human, or letting the main suspect in the killing of the British woman walk right past them barefoot, or the time when it took 20,000 cops in Osaka to stop a speeding car (or some huge number, it was posted here). I think that the measure of incompetence that they show gets reflected in the greater image of how the police are viewed. The same as it was with the LA cops back in the 90's with the Rodney King beatings or the Rampart scandal and the perception that LA cops are crooked. Not all J-cops are lazy, but it seems that the lazy ones get the most press.
Kameleon at 05:51 PM JST - 24th September

On-duty officer apparently shoots himself at Tokyo police station

Oops!