Posted on: Monday, April 23, 2001

Police secrecy is still a disservice to public

We've seen this scenario repeated several times in recent years:

Honolulu police officer or officers are involved in a questionable incident. The department investigates, takes the results to the City Prosecutor's Office, which concludes there is no need to press charges. Officers go back to work.

End of story.

In many of those instances, we've wondered in this space:

Is that all there is? Just because the officers in question didn't commit a crime (at least one that prosecutors feel they can prove in court), does that mean their actions were proper? Does that mean they should strap their weapons back on and return to duty, with nothing more said?

Unhappily, under today's procedures — and indeed the law itself — there is no way for the public to get answers for such questions.

The question came up again last week with a city prosecutor's determination that two police officers acted in self-defense when they fired at a motorist they said was trying to run them down last spring.

Fortunately, no one was seriously injured in the incident. The motorist, a woman, was captured later.

We have no reason to quarrel with the prosecutor's decision, but we continue to believe the matter should not rest there. No doubt the HPD has conducted its own investigation, and the taxpayers who paid for it have the right to know, aside from any question of criminal behavior, whether the officers complied with the department's standard procedures for handling the traffic stop and for their use of deadly force.

Did this incident give cause to revise department standard operating procedures? Were the officers disciplined in any way? Counseled or reassigned? Or were they commended?

The HPD hardly builds its credibility with the community by maintaining silence on these questions.