強盗無視してポケモンＧＯ、警官２人を懲戒免職　米

【ロサンゼルスＡＦＰ＝時事】米カリフォルニア州ロサンゼルスで、強盗の逮捕に向かわずポケモンを捕獲していた警察官２人が懲戒免職処分となった。（写真は資料写真）
　先週公表された懲戒免職処分に関する文書によると、ルイ・ロサノ氏とエリック・ミッチェル氏は２０１７年４月、市内をパトロール中にゲームアプリ「ポケモンＧＯ」をプレー。犯罪者ではなくレアポケモンのカビゴンとトゲチックを捕まえていた。
　録音されたパトカー内の音声で、２人は強盗が入ったデパートへの応援要請があったにもかかわらず、無視したことが発覚した。
　ミッチェル氏はロサノ氏に「『カビゴン』が出たぞ」と声をかけた。約２０分にわたってポケモンについて話しながら、ポケモンが出現したとみられる場所を回ったとされる。
　２人はカビゴンを捕まえた後、トゲチックを狙ったが捕獲には少々手間取った。
　２人は職務上の義務違反に問われたが、強盗現場への応援要請に応じなかったことを認める一方、ポケモンＧＯをプレーしていたことは否定。懲戒審査委員会でポケモンＧＯについて話していただけだと主張し、懲戒免職処分に異議を申し立てた。しかし、カリフォルニア州控訴裁は２人の主張を認めず、懲戒免職処分を支持した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/01/12-12:29）

Two US police officers who went off to hunt for Pokemon instead of responding to a robbery have been fired.
Louis Lozano and Eric Mitchell cruised the streets searching for fantastic creatures in the augmented reality smartphone game, documents show, bagging a relatively rare Snorlax, as well as a difficult-to-trap Togetic -- but no criminals.
In-car recording of their conversation revealed that they had heard the call for help at the Los Angeles department store, but decided instead to drive off.
Officer Mitchell alerted Lozano that 'Snorlax' 'just popped up', legal documents relating to their dismissal show.
For approximately the next 20 minutes, the (recording) captured petitioners discussing Pokemon as they drove to different locations where the virtual creatures apparently appeared on their mobile phones.
The Los Angeles police officers snagged the Snorlax and then turned their attention to a Togetic -- which proved to be a little tricky to subdue.
Holy crap, man. This thing is fighting the crap out of me, Mitchell said, according to the documents, which were published last week.
Both men were charged with multiple counts of misconduct, and admitted failing to respond to the robbery call during the incident in April 2017, but denied they had been playing Pokemon Go.
The pair insisted in disciplinary hearings that they had merely been discussing the game, and challenged Los Angeles city's dismissal.
California's court of appeal, however, did not believe their explanations, and upheld their firings.
Pokemon Go took the mid-2010s by storm, with millions around the world glued to their smartphones in the hunt for fantastical creatures.
In one of the first mainstream adoptions of augmented reality, players would look for round-eyed pocket monsters that would appear in the real world, if viewed on a smartphone screen.
Participants would use Pokeballs to capture the creatures, which were inspired by everything from mice to dragons, and then train them in Pokegyms to take part in battles.
Such was the popularity of the game at one point that several military installations felt the need to warn troops about the possible perils of playing on bases, including near runways.
Fans have also been blamed for causing traffic accidents, and at least one illegal border crossing was blamed on someone trying to Catch 'em all.