The number of police officers who have committed suicide using their handguns since the beginning of April, the start of the current fiscal year, has reached eight, already exceeding the total of six who killed themselves during the whole of the previous fiscal year, the National Police Agency said Friday. The worst-ever one-year number for handgun suicides was eight recorded in fiscal 2006, according to the NPA. Following the suicide by handgun of a Tokyo police officer in August last year, the NPA ordered prefectural police headquarters to take countermeasures, such as prohibiting officers who may have psychological problems from carrying guns. An NPA official said in connection with the latest figure, "It is a violation of public trust to use such handguns so inappropriately, as they should be used for the protection of the public."