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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, July 14, 2005

Firearms sought for liquor inspectors

By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

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Investigators for the Honolulu Liquor Commission would be allowed to carry firearms under a proposal by administrator Wallace Weatherwax, who said they are needed for safety in an increasingly dangerous work environment.

For years the commission has been plagued by allegations of deep-seated corruption, and it has been the object of a number of ethical inquiries, a continuing federal investigation and a city audit that found "inadequate management and oversight."

Eight former investigators were found guilty on charges of racketeering, bribery, extortion and related counts for accepting bribes from owners and workers of hostess bars and strip clubs in 2000 and 2001. U.S. District Judge David Ezra called them "the most open and notorious cases of public corruption I have ever seen."

Against that backdrop, City Council member Charles Djou was astonished at the firearms proposal.

"It's a ridiculous idea," he said yesterday. "After all these problems with bribery, extortion and corruption at the Honolulu Liquor Commission, what we need is reform, not arming these inspectors."

At a commission meeting Tuesday, Weatherwax proposed drafting a plan that would allow the investigators to be trained in "defensive weapons" so they could carry guns in their work enforcing the city's liquor laws.

After discussing the idea — briefly in public and for a longer discussion in closed-door executive session — the commission postponed a decision.

Liquor Commission Chairman Dennis Enomoto said the commission needs more information about the safety issues and possible solutions.

"We want to make sure that our officers are safe," Enomoto said. "We're trying to determine if this is the proper thing to do."

Weatherwax said his main concern is the safety of the investigators, who increasingly find themselves facing guns and other weapons while on the job.

He said there have been increasing complaints that they face a dangerous environment when they enforce liquor laws and need guns to protect themselves and those they license.

In a memo to the commission dated July 1, 2004, supervising investigator Allan Gaylord argued that the safety issue is urgent and said they must act "before it's too late and we'll all be attending a funeral and having to face the loved ones that have to contend with any loss."

Weatherwax also pointed to a safety committee report that cited increasing violence in or near the places they regulate.

The incidents included a doorman shot at a nightclub while attempting to break up a fight, a stabbing during a fight between customers, a shooting outside a convenience store and a "shoot-out" in front of another nightclub.

"Each night they go out, they could be placing their own lives in jeopardy," Weatherwax said yesterday. He cited reports from investigators detailing incidents "where weapons have been brandished and HPD called."

"There was one last week that technically was an assault," Weatherwax said. And he recalled one incident in which an investigator was injured and filed a workers' compensation case about five years ago.

Because the investigators have police powers that put them in danger, Weatherwax said they need the tools to keep them safe.

"It is not the licensee that's the problem, it is the clientele that happens to be coming in there," he said.

Enomoto doesn't believe that his citizen panel will have the final say on deciding whether to arm the investigators.

Weatherwax said he understands that the decision would go through the city administration and the City Council for their consideration.

Enomoto knows that adding firearms to the mix will be met with criticism and suspicion.

"We're still under this cloud of distrust with the public," he said, but he believes that safety demands some action.

Djou worried that weapons would further erode the public's confidence in the agency.

"What we need at the Liquor Commission is management shake-up and real policy reform," he said. "I can't possibly imagine how in the world giving these guys weapons and adopting a deadly force policy is somehow going to make this all better."

Djou said increased danger makes a stronger case for turning over liquor law enforcement duties to the Honolulu Police Department.

The commission oversees nearly 1,500 bars, clubs, restaurants and other businesses that sell liquor. The agency gets its money from those it licenses, from fees and fines paid by the businesses, with a proposed budget this year of $3.7 million.

But Weatherwax said the jobs of the investigators are growing more dangerous. He cited a letter from former city Managing Director Ben Lee that approved allowing the commission to provide weapons training to some staff members, but stopped short of budgeting for weapons.

In the April 2004 letter, Lee said: "I support the concept of training liquor inspectors in self-defense for their protection and safety."

But he also said any proposal to have them carry and use firearms in their work "requires further evaluation and discussion with HPD, the Liquor Commission and the city administration."

Lee suggested that inspectors faced with a dangerous work environment call 911 and ask for police. Weatherwax said that's not enough.

Weatherwax said Hawai'i is one of only five states that do not equip their liquor investigators with guns. Training investigators in "verbal judo" and other methods of conflict resolution has not been sufficient, he said.

"I guess when the bullets are flying, that's when you call 911?" he asked.

But Djou said the public needs to regain trust in the agency. And that will happen when the agency shows that reforms have been made to reduce the potential for corruption, he said. "The last thing they need is firearms."