DRUG, HARASSMENT SCANDALS FORCE JAPAN'S TOP COP TO RESIGN

TOKYO Japan's top police chief resigned Thursday after allegations of
drug abuse and sexual harassment tarnished the force's image and
prompted calls for closer monitoring of officers.

National Police Agency chief Yuko Sekiguchi, 60, told reporters he
would quit to restore public trust in Japanese law enforcement, an
agency spokesman said on customary condition of anonymity.

"I am very sorry about the scandals," Sekiguchi was quoted as saying
by Kyodo News agency. He added, however, that his resignation did not
imply that he was taking responsibility for any wrongdoing in the force.

The Japanese police's relatively benign image was cracked last year by
a scandal in a Tokyo suburb centering on allegations that senior
officials had covered up drug abuse by an agent.

Officers in Kanagawa prefecture, or state, were also allegedly
involved in sexual harassment and bullying of colleagues. The
prefectural police chief and several other officials have been
arrested in the drug cover-up.

Those scandals - and accusations of sexual harassment in another
prefectural police force - have triggered criticism of Japan's lack of
a strong system to keep watch over law enforcers.

Sekiguchi recently proposed a plan to bolster the National Public
Safety Commission, the body that supervises Japan's police forces. He
said he is stepping down now that the plan has been completed.

"We now have various countermeasures in place to deal with the
scandals," Chief Cabinet Secretary Mikio Aoki was quoted as saying by
Kyodo.

Sekiguchi's resignation is expected to be approved this week at a
Cabinet meeting, the police spokesman said. He is likely to be
replaced by the agency's deputy chief, Setsuo Tanaka, 56.

The scandals have received national attention - and criticism. Prime
Minister Keizo Obuchi said late last year that the crimes were "beyond
description" because they involved a systematic cover-up.

The main scandal centers on allegations that the Kanagawa police
covered up drug abuse by Yoshihisa Sakayori, 37, a former assistant
inspector.

Sakayori had confessed in December 1996 to using amphetamines -
increasingly common in Japan. Despite a positive urine test for drugs,
however, he was not immediately arrested. He was later fired for
having an extramarital affair.