Religion removed from HPD Web site

Associated Press

The Honolulu Police Department removed a biblical passage and poems containing religious content from its Web site after a citizens group complained.

Police spokeswoman Michelle Yu said the department will ask city attorneys to look into the matter.

Mitch Kahle of Hawaii Citizens for the Separation of State and Church had demanded in a letter to Police Chief Lee Donohue that the department remove all material of a religious nature from its Web site because it violates the U.S. Constitution.

The citizens group earlier had demanded that the Honolulu Fire Department recall a safety guide because it contains a firefighter's prayer that included the word "God."

The police Web site included a passage from the Book of Matthew in a section that honors police officers who were killed in the line of duty.

Kahle said the Web site also included poems written by police officer Eddie Croom that contain religious content. One of the poems contains the phrase "obey the laws of my God."

Kahle said in his letter to Donohue, "Police officers do not 'obey the law of God,' they obey the laws of government."