SENDAI -- Miyagi Prefectural Police announced on March 26 that its Sendai Higashi Police Station has lost 20 SD cards containing some 1,000 investigation photos, possibly disposing of them by mistake.

According to the prefectural police, the photos on the missing SD cards were taken between around 2018 and 2021, and included images of crime scenes plus a total of 23 people, including victims and suspects in cases including violations of Japan's waste management law and the prefecture's youth development ordinance. Two victims were minors at the time the photos were taken.

The loss was discovered during an inspection by an officer from Sendai Higashi Police Station's community safety division on Feb. 28. Although the SD cards had been kept in a dedicated file within the police station, interviews with station officials revealed that disposal by mistake was a possibility. No external personal information leaks have been confirmed at this time.

Shuya Saito, a superintendent in the prefectural police's community safety planning division, stated, "We deeply apologize to those involved and will thoroughly implement measures to prevent a recurrence."

On the same day, the prefectural police established a consultation service for individuals concerned about potential information leaks. Inquiries can be directed to Sendai Higashi Police Station at 022-231-7171 (in Japanese).

(Japanese original by Hiroshi Endo, Sendai Bureau)