Overview

• The National Police Agency began a special inspection on October 8 into Saga Prefectural Police after revelations of repeated DNA testing misconduct.
• Chief Inspector Hideki Katakura and DNA experts from the National Research Institute of Police Science, including Koji Fujii, were dispatched to lead interviews and review records.
• Inspectors will reassess Saga police’s assertion that the wrongdoing did not affect investigations or trials and will evaluate internal inquiries for adequacy.
• The misconduct involved about 130 instances from June 2017 to October 2024, including fabricated test claims and mishandled or lost materials by a lab employee who was dismissed.
• This is the fifth such special inspection since 2011, following probes of Aichi (2012), Osaka and Okayama (2014), and Kagoshima (2024), as local political and legal groups press for independent scrutiny.