A POLICE officer in Hyogo Prefecture has had his pay cut and his seven subordinates have received warnings over playing an online game while on duty at their respective police boxes, the prefectural police headquarters said on May 16.
The 38-year-old officer has been given a 10 per cent pay cut for a month for playing the game online together with the seven others aged 21 to 30.
The eight used their smartphones to play the online game at the same time multiple times from October to December in 2024, in which they formed teams to compete against each other, according to the police.
The eight played the game for about 20 minutes per session, with some doing so 10 times during the period.
They were usually hooked on the game at break rooms at neighbourhood police stations known as koban. Occasionally, such sessions happened while on patrol.
The police said that the officers’ behaviour did not affect duties because they suspended playing the game whenever they were called to respond to reports.
Their behaviour came to light in November when an anonymous letter was sent to the police.
The eight all admitted what they did, with the oldest officer quoted as saying, “I ended up getting my subordinates involved (in playing the online game while on duty)”. — The Japan News/ANN
