Some officers fabricated reports on incidents that never took place, the officials said.

About 10 of the falsified documents were officially submitted to prosecutors, who decided against pressing charges, the officials said.

The fabricated documents were mostly related to minor crimes such as stealing bicycles.

When officers identified thieves but could not get in touch with the owners of the bicycles, they pretended to be the victims or used the names of homeless people to fill in the documents, the officials said.

Minor offenses are frequently exempt from indictment, but records of resolved incidents are counted as part of police achievements.

The Japan Times Weekly: July 10, 2004
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