According to a statement from the National Police Agency (NPA), in 2025, 337 police officers and employees across Japan were disciplined - the highest level in a decade. This figure is an increase of 98 cases compared to 2024, showing a noteworthy upward trend within the law enforcement force.
Among those disciplined, the group aged 20 and under accounted for the highest proportion with 113 people, equivalent to 33.5% of the total. Followed by 81 people aged 30, 77 people aged 40 and 66 people aged 50 and over.
NPA believes this is a worrying sign, as "the generation that did not undergo police reforms starting in 2000 may have declined in discipline".
Regarding causes, the most common are acts related to "intercourse with the opposite sex", including sexual harassment and inappropriate relationships, with 104 cases. The next group of violations is theft, fraud, embezzlement and similar acts - 63 cases, while 44 cases are negligence and 40 cases are related to accidents or traffic violations.
Notably, young people accounted for a large proportion of the 22 people disciplined for using online casinos.
Regarding the form of handling, there were 44 cases of dismissal, 97 people suspended from work, 144 people had their salaries cut and 52 people were reprimanded.
By locality, Hyogo Prefectural Police recorded the most cases with 50 disciplined people, followed by Kanagawa Prefectural Police with 34, Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department with 30 and Osaka Prefectural Police with 26.
According to NPA, the above figures reflect the challenges in maintaining discipline and professional standards in the police force, especially in the context of the younger generation increasingly accounting for a large proportion.
