Kyoto Police Commissioner investigated for alleged power harassment for verbally abusing a subordinate, saying ‘I’m going to kill you’

Interviews with persons concerned have revealed that Toshiaki Shirai, 56, chief of the Kyoto Prefectural Police, is suspected of saying things like “I’m going to kill you” to a subordinate officer while on duty.It is believed that this constitutes power harassment, which is defined in the National Police Agency’s guidelines as “inflicting mental or physical pain on an employee and harming his or her character and dignity”, and the prefectural police are investigating the incident in detail.

On the morning of 1 October, General Shirai did not respond to an interview with the Mainichi Newspapers and other media.

According to sources, in August, Shirai allegedly spoke out of turn when he was being briefed by a subordinate police officer on how to proceed with his duties at the prefectural police headquarters in Kyoto City. There are reports that he made similar remarks on another occasion.

Chief Shirai graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Tokyo and was employed by the National Police Agency in 1991.He has served as Chief of the Investigation Division 2 of the Hokkaido Prefectural Police and Chief of the Toyama Prefectural Police Headquarters, and has been Chief of the Prefectural Police Headquarters since March 2023.

At a press conference when he took up his new post, he said: ‘I would like to deal with each case carefully and appropriately to ensure the safety and security of Kyoto’.Reona Mizutani and Yuki Daito.