2 officers demoted in Gaspar slaying
By Peter Boylan and David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writers
Veteran Honolulu police Lt. William Kato and another detective have been demoted for six months and three other officers have been disciplined in connection with the arrest last year that led to the shooting death of officer Glen Gaspar at the Kapolei Shopping Center.
The disciplinary action approved by Chief Lee Donohue was taken in part because the Honolulu Police Department found the planning phase of the operation inadequate, according to police sources who asked not to be identified because the decision has not officially been made public.
Kato, a lieutenant for the past 10 years and the head of the homicide division who handles the high-profile role as police spokesman for homicide cases and other investigations, will be demoted one rank to sergeant.
In addition, Det. Bruce Swann, second in command at the arrest scene, will be demoted for six months to patrolman. The three other officers will receive one-day suspensions.
In demoting the two officers, the department said Kato and Swann did not properly plan the arrest, the sources said.
Kato and Swann will also be transferred out of the Honolulu Police Department's Criminal Investigation Division. Kato has 24 years in the department; Swann has 30.
Greig Gaspar, brother of the slain officer and spokesman for the family, said yesterday that he does not blame the two officers who were demoted.
"I heard some talk about how Glen and the others were not wearing protective vests that day," Gaspar said. "It's unfortunate that blame is continuing in this tragedy. It's not going to bring Glen back."
Donohue could not be reached for comment last night.
Kato headed a group of six plainclothes officers who went to Kapolei on March 4 to arrest Shane Mark on warrants stemming from a shooting a month earlier in Moanalua.
As Glen Gaspar and fellow officer Calvin Sung approached Mark in the Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop at the shopping center, Mark pulled a .22-caliber revolver out of his waistband or pocket and shot Gaspar twice in the chest before other officers managed to disarm him. Gaspar was not wearing a bulletproof vest.
Mark was found guilty by a Circuit Court jury last month of second-degree murder for shooting Gaspar. He faces a mandatory life term with parole when he is sentenced Feb. 24.
The police Internal Affairs investigation was completed months ago. Its findings were submitted to HPD's Administrative Review Board, which is made up of assistant chiefs and which reviews disciplinary matters and makes recommendations to the chief.
The review board recommended to Donohue in November that Kato and Swann be administratively demoted and transferred. Kato and Swann unofficially learned of the recommendations almost immediately and protested personally to the chief.
Donohue took no action and further delayed a decision because of the Pali Municipal Golf Course double-murder shooting Jan. 7. Kato and Swann were heavily involved in investigating that case, and Donohue delayed a decision on the disciplinary recommendations until after suspects in the Pali case were identified and arrested.
The officers were served with the disciplinary orders Monday. Copies were sent to the State of Hawai'i Organization of Police Officers yesterday. All the disciplinary actions take effect Feb. 2.
Kato and the other officers have the option of filing a grievance with the department. There are four steps to that process, the first two of which will be administered by the same people who disciplined them.
In the months after the Gaspar shooting, Kato personally supervised several high-profile cases. In addition to the Pali golf course shooting, he oversaw cases involving the escape by inmate Albert Batalona and two others from Halawa prison. All involved manhunts and the arrests of potentially armed suspects.
Greig Gaspar said yesterday that members of the six-man detail, which included his brother, would have been immediately recognized had they been wearing protective vests under their aloha shirts. And that would have compromised the whole purpose of the officers' being in plainclothes, he said.
In addition, he said, police were relying on assurances from Mark's former girlfriend, Melissa Sennett, that Mark would not come armed to meet with her at the ice cream shop.
Greig Gaspar, however, declined to comment on whether the family plans to sue the city or the Police Department in connection with his brother's death.
He said he believes it was difficult for Internal Affairs investigators and HPD commanding officers to "blame" Kato and Swann. "If that's their way of trying to make up for what happened, it doesn't make up for it. Glen is gone, and there is nothing we can do about it,"Gaspar said.
Most people do their jobs on a daily basis and are not judged by others — but police officers are, he said.
Gaspar said the disciplinary action only adds to the family's misery.
"The trial lasted almost right into the holidays. At Thanksgiving, you could look around and it was clear that Glen was not with us. Then the same thing happened again at Christmas and New Year's," Gaspar said.
"Then, Jan. 22 was Glen's birthday — he would have been 41. But there's nothing anyone can do to bring him back."
Advertiser staff writers Jim Dooley and Curtis Lum contributed to this report.
Reach Peter Boylan at 535-8110 or pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com and David Waite at 525-8030 or dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com.
