The Osaka Prefectural Police headquarters (Mainichi/Tsuyoshi Fujita)

       SAKAI, Osaka -- A 21-year-old male officer stationed at a police box in this west Japan city has lost a list containing personal information on 465 residents in the city's Naka Ward, which is used for patrols to prevent crimes and raise awareness about special fraud countermeasures, Osaka Prefectural Police's Nakasakai Police Station announced on Sept. 13.

       There has apparently been no trace of misuse of the information contained in the list, which includes the names, addresses and phone numbers of household members.

       According to the police station, the officer who belongs to the community affairs division noticed the list was missing when he arrived at the scene of a traffic accident in Naka Ward at around 3:10 p.m. on Sept. 12. He had apparently been carrying the list in a black file while visiting local residents' houses just before rushing to the accident scene. Police are searching for the list using security camera footage and other means.

       The police station's deputy chief Hirokazu Ikegami commented: "We deeply apologize to those concerned. We will provide thorough instructions to the personnel at our police station."

       (Japanese original by Kosuke Yamamoto, Osaka City News Department)

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