Police Accreditation Committee Should Listen to Public’s Comments
Testimony Tuesday was candid and caustic in the Honolulu Police Department’s accreditation forum. Recent events involving HPD should prompt a close review.
聽is conducting the Honolulu Police Department鈥檚 standard triennial review this spring and soliciting input from the public. But members of the visiting accreditation review committee might not have been prepared for the tenor of testimony they received from citizens and one lawmaker at an open forum on Tuesday night.
Community members blasted HPD on matters ranging from recent high-profile cases of police brutality to a law that formerly allowed cops to have sex with prostitutes during investigations, according to a . The forum reportedly drew more commenters than CALEA reviewers are accustomed to see at such events, and the speakers didn鈥檛 hold back.
Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha during a Honolulu Police Commission meeting.
Cory Lum/Civil Beat
State Sen. Laura Thielen took particular aim at how the department has handled domestic violence allegations against its own officers. HPD was the subject of withering criticism last fall when no criminal charges were filed against a police sergeant who was caught on video repeatedly punching his girlfriend in a Waipahu restaurant. A member of the Senate Judiciary and Labor committee and of the Women’s Legislative Caucus, Thielen questioned why the department doesn鈥檛 enforce its own policies on domestic violence.
鈥淲e currently have a bill in the Legislature requiring those policies to be posted, but frankly I think it鈥檚 very sad that we have to get to the point of passing a state law on something where HPD could do it voluntarily,鈥 Thielen said. 聽鈥淭o me, that speaks to a culture within HPD that is treating matters of domestic violence, including ones where their own officers are involved, as a lesser crime.鈥
Thielen spoke as citizens in the audience held signs reading 鈥淣o More Police Murder鈥 and 鈥淪top Police Brutality.鈥 Accreditation reviewers have no doubt heard of high-profile incidents over the past year involving Honolulu police officers assaulting a patron inside an Ala Moana game room and violently slamming a Palolo Valley man to the ground. No criminal charges were filed in either of those two matters, even though the latter was caught on video.
It should go without saying, of course, that HPD officers are responsible for a great deal of good in this community 鈥 preventing crime, ensuring public safety and bringing lawbreakers to justice.
But CALEA needs to keep in mind that Hawaii is the only state without a statewide standards and training board, which provides an important level of review for police agencies in other states. There are also no citizen’s review boards in Hawaii as are common in other states, often created in the wake of police shootings and brutality cases like those that have recently come to light throughout the country. The CALEA accreditation process is virtually the only outside review of HPD’s policies and practices, and that makes CALEA a critical player in the public’s ability to be confident in HPD’s capabilities.
The department鈥檚 responses to multiple incidents of unacceptable police behavior have unfortunately tarnished HPD鈥檚 image and caused many to question the department鈥檚 commitment to basic standards in areas that count. HPD’s historically difficult relationship with media when it comes to releasing public information hasn鈥檛 helped, either.
Reviewers should take those matters into account as they consider how well HPD has performed relative to the that CALEA has set for all its accredited agencies. You are encouraged to share your thoughts on HPD. Send them to:
Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies
13575 Heathcote Blvd., Suite 320
Gainesville, VA聽 20155
