8 Police Officers Disciplined over Playing Online Games While on Duty at Koban Boxes

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:24 JST, May 17, 2025

KOBE — 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 koban police boxes, the prefectural police headquarters said Friday.

The 38-year-old officer has been given a 10% pay cut for one month for playing the game online together with the seven others, who range in ages from 21 to 30.

The eight used their private smartphones to play the online game at the same time multiple times from October to December last year, 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 their koban, but sometimes such sessions happened while on patrol, according to the police.

The police said that the officers’ behavior did not affect duties because they suspended playing the game whenever they were called to respond to reports.

Their behavior came into 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].