A 53-year-old traffic section chief at the Shimizu Police Station in Shizuoka Prefecture has been arrested on suspicion of intimidation and violating the Stalking Control Act for repeatedly sending threatening messages to a woman he is in a relationship with. This is the fifth police officer from the Shizuoka Prefectural Police Headquarters to be arrested.
The arrested suspect is Kengo Masui (53), the head of the traffic section of the Shimizu Police Station.
According to the police, from mid-July to late September, he sent more than 7 messages containing threats such as "I will take the prescribed action as long as my life lasts" to a woman in her 9s, who was a former dating partner, and is suspected of violating the anti-stalking law.
On September 30, a woman contacted a police station in Shizuoka Prefecture to report that she was being stalked, so on September 9, the prefectural police headquarters issued a prohibition order based on the Stalking Control Law to the head of the traffic section.
The chief of the traffic section said that he was on duty until the 11th, and he said in response to the investigation that he was not convinced about the arrest.
The Shizuoka Prefectural Police Headquarters announced that he will be relieved of his duties as chief of the traffic section and assigned to the police station as of the 9th.
This is the fifth arrest of an incumbent police officer at the Shizuoka Prefectural Police Headquarters, the most in the past 27 years.
Police Commissioner Tomohiro Hiyoshi commented, "It is truly regrettable that such an incident occurred by a senior official, and we deeply apologize to the victims and the citizens of the prefecture.