Posted on: Friday, January 21, 2005

Four Big Isle officers dismissed last year

By Kevin Dayton and Peter Boylan
Advertiser Staff Writer

Four Big Island police officers were fired for misconduct last year, and Big Island police have launched felony criminal investigations in two of the fired officers' cases.

Eight of the Big Island's nearly 400 officers were disciplined for infractions ranging from assault to falsifying reports and lying to investigators, according to a report of police disciplinary actions filed with the state Legislature.

On O'ahu, the number of disciplinary actions taken against Honolulu police officers hit a five-year low last year with less than 2 percent of officers being disciplined, the annual reports show.

On the Big Island, Capt. Henry Tavares, who oversees the Internal Affairs section of the Hawai'i County Police Department, said the four firings at his department was the highest number of terminations in recent years.

Three Big Island officers were fired in 2002 and one was terminated in 2000, but there were no firings in 1999, 2001 or 2003, he said.

One Big Island officer was fired last year for allegedly threatening and assaulting someone, and the same officer was also suspended for lying during an Internal Affairs investigation and for acting in an "inappropriate manner."

Police do not release details of the cases, and the identities of disciplined officers are kept confidential under state law and the counties' contract with the police union, the State of Hawai'i Organization of Police Officers, Tavares said.

Another officer was fired for allegedly falsifying department vehicle records and having a subsidized vehicle serviced while the officer was on duty; for allegedly falsifying information on an insurance claim; for lying during an Internal Affairs investigation; and for failing to conduct a proper investigation, according to the report to the Legislature.

An officer was fired for falsifying a police report, and that same officer was suspended for failing to conduct a proper investigation and failing to follow report writing guidelines.

A fourth officer was dismissed for falsifying a document and a police report.

The firings are not linked in any way, according to Tavares, who said he does not see cause for alarm because of the larger-than-normal number of terminations. He said he believes that police chiefs in the past would have handled the cases the same way current Chief Lawrence Mahuna handled them last year.

By comparison, the number of disciplinary actions taken against Honolulu police officers hit a five-year low last year, with less than 2 percent of the force's officers receiving some form of punishment for violating the department's code of conduct.

Honolulu downturn

The Honolulu Police Department disciplined 33 officers last year in 37 incidents. In 2003, 49 officers were disciplined, up from 40 in 2002. In 2001, 56 officers were disciplined, down from 63 in 2000. HPD employs nearly 2,000 officers.

HPD Assistant Chief Bryan Wauke said the department is pleased with the downturn in disciplinary action taken against its officers. He said there are so many variables in officer discipline that the number of officers punished each year rises and falls without any real rhythm.

"We're happy but we cannot take credit for it," he said. "Hopefully the trend continues in that direction."

In the most serious incident, an officer was suspended for 30 days for falsifying police reports and expense vouchers, misappropriating expense funds, failing to submit evidence, lying to fellow officers and participating in illegal gambling.

Ronald Becker, a professor of criminal justice at Chaminade University and chairman of the criminal justice program, said that in comparison with Mainland jurisdictions of similar size, such as San Francisco and Las Vegas, the discipline of police officers in Hawai'i, especially on O'ahu, is far superior.

"Statistically, we could be a model for police behavior and for ferreting out police misbehavior," he said. "This is the least corrupt police agency in the country but it is also in the most difficult place to be corrupt."

He said Hawai'i's high population density and small-town feel places a lot of scrutiny on local law enforcement.

Becker cautioned that while the disciplinary reports show the charge and the outcome, they do not detail any of the negotiations or circumstances that led to the punishment.

"We have no idea what the contractual agreement was between the parties that leads to that (final) agreement," he said. "We don't actually understand what the terms were. The discipline is the outcome but that is not entirely everything that took place."

The statistics come from a report submitted each year to the Legislature. The reports have been mandatory since 1995 under a state law stemming from a challenge by a University of Hawai'i student journalism group seeking more openness with police disciplinary records.

Some of the suspensions and dismissals recorded last year may have stemmed from infractions as far back as five years. Police said the process of appealing a suspension, filing a grievance with the union, and the actual investigation of a case can take some time.

Two fired on Maui

On Maui, two of the 12 officers disciplined were fired. There are 300 officers with the Maui County Police Department.

The most notable incident involved a Maui policeman who was convicted in December 2004 of attempting to force a woman to commit sexual acts while she was in custody following a traffic stop.

Aaron Won, 25, faces a sentence anywhere from probation up to 31 years in prison after a Maui jury found him guilty of a lesser charge of attempted sexual assault in the second degree, instead of the original charge of first degree and unlawful imprisonment instead of kidnapping. He was also found guilty of attempted extortion.

In a separate incident that resulted in a firing, an officer physically assaulted two residents.

For the second year in a row, Kaua'i County, with 90 officers, has yet to submit its disciplinary report to the Legislature.

Last week, the Kaua'i County Council announced that it is considering using its investigative authority for the first time to conduct an inquiry into the Kaua'i Police Department.

The Kaua'i Police Department has had three chiefs in as many years and is facing a slew of lawsuits. Council members said it also is suffering from low morale, problems with training and overtime, and has lost the public's trust.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8110.