This year, protesters across the country and the world have called for a stop to police brutality and racism in policing and demanded more transparency and accountability from police officers.听

The movement hit Hawaii too, with demonstrations at the State Capitol and on city streets.听

As Honolulu prepares for the November general election, the city鈥檚 mayoral candidates have different views on the role of the 1,800-officer police department and the Honolulu Police Commission, the volunteer-run oversight body that hires and fires the chief and investigates some citizen complaints.听

Rick Blangiardi, Hawaii News Now鈥檚 former boss, doesn鈥檛 want to make waves when it comes to HPD.听

The frontrunner in the August primary has the endorsement of the and speaks about police with deference.听

Chief Susan Ballard, who has denied that Hawaii鈥檚 criminal justice system suffers from the same racial inequities that plague other jurisdictions, is doing a great job in Blangiardi鈥檚 opinion. He hopes she continues to lead the department 鈥渇or a long time.鈥澨�

鈥淓verything I see has been good in their efforts to help us,鈥� said Blangiardi. 鈥淚鈥檓 very supportive of our police department.鈥澨�

Keith Amemiya, a former insurance executive and nonprofit director, is more receptive to the calls from activists for police reform, although the policies he is advocating for are already in place at HPD.听

He acknowledges there is systemic racism in Hawaii’s criminal justice system. , he states that, contrary to the idea that racism exists only on the mainland, there are “layers upon layers of structural inequality, injustice, and systemic racism right here.”

“In Hawaii, this bigotry is often aimed at Pacific Islanders, Hawaiians, Filipinos, and others who face bigotry and who are overrepresented in our prison population and homeless shelters,” the website says.

Asked about Ballard鈥檚 performance since she became chief in 2017, he said 鈥渋t鈥檚 still early in her tenure, so it鈥檚 hard to say.鈥澨�

鈥淏ut so far, she has provided the stability that the department needs coming on the heels of her predecessor, and his and his wife’s many problems,鈥� he said. Amemiya was, of course, referring to former Chief Louis Kealoha and his former prosecutor wife Katherine Kealoha, both of whom are awaiting sentencing on felony convictions.听

In response to a Civil Beat review that found HPD鈥檚 rate of solving crimes is at a historic low, Blangiardi said that as mayor, he would meet with law enforcement to better understand the challenges and identify solutions.听

“Understandably, the news about HPD鈥檚 low crime clearing rates is alarming,鈥� he said in a post-interview statement. 鈥淚 can assure the public that the men and women of our law enforcement are hard-working, dedicated professionals but clearly there are administrative issues that need to be addressed.鈥�

Amemiya said the same, and that he would like the chief to provide a detailed briefing to the Honolulu Police Commission.

“I would be interested to know how police resources are being allocated and perhaps more should be allocated toward solving crimes,” he said.听

The Power Of The Police Commission

Both Blangiardi and Amemiya said they don’t believe the Kealoha scandal was indicative of a systemic problem in HPD.

Asked how he would prevent a similar situation from unfolding on his watch, Blangiardi said he would lead the city with transparency, accountability and trustworthiness.听

鈥淚t comes down to making sure we鈥檙e doing the right things,鈥� he said.听

He also said holding police accountable is the job of the Honolulu Police Commission.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a separation of powers there, so to speak, and they鈥檙e responsible for what we鈥檙e talking about,鈥� he said. 鈥淯nless something happens and I feel otherwise, I鈥檓 going to rely on that. And in the areas that the mayor needs to be involved with, I鈥檒l be involved with that.鈥澨�

Notably, the Honolulu Police Commission is not the entity that rooted out the Kealohas鈥� corruption. It was federal investigators.

The Police Commission let Louis Kealoha walk out the door with a $250,000 severance, and two commissioners have quit citing a lack of power to affect change. Blangiardi’s wife Karen Chang is a former member of the Police Commission but was appointed after that payout.听

Representatives of HPD and the commission have been interviewed about the Kealoha debacle in recent weeks by , whose office is conducting a review requested by the Honolulu City Council.听

Nevertheless, Blangiardi said he has 鈥渁 lot of confidence in that kind of a model.鈥�

鈥淭he commission has a responsibility in making sure our chief of police is doing the best job possible and to be that level of support, if you will, as the board of advisers in dealing with issues,鈥� he said.听

鈥淚 do believe the chief needs autonomy to operate effectively in their jobs, to be trusted 鈥� If we have the right police chief, then everything is going to work right.鈥澨�

Asked whether Chief Kealoha had too much autonomy, Blangiardi said: 鈥淚t’s easy to say that in retrospect, isn’t it?鈥�

The scandal permeated the Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney鈥檚 Office too, Blangiardi noted. That office will be led by either Steve Alm or Megan Kau come January.

鈥淚 think we鈥檙e in a new day here, a good day, with respect to the quality of the leadership we’re getting from our police department and what that means for the people who live here,鈥� he said.

Amemiya said he would like to boost the authority of the Honolulu Police Commission. As a former member of the commission appointed by then-Mayor Mufi Hannemann, Amemiya said it needs more oversight power.

鈥淐urrently, their duties are more or less confined to hiring and firing the police chief and handling citizen complaints against officers,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important that a police department have proper civilian oversight. I would broaden the powers of the commission to also be able to look at the various procedures in place and their operations.鈥澨�

Amemiya wouldn鈥檛 want the commission to micromanage HPD鈥檚 day to day work, but he said the Kealoha ordeal proves there is a problem.听

鈥淐learly there is not enough oversight power in the current structure of the Police Commission,鈥� he said.听

No One Is Defunding The Police

Blangiardi said there aren鈥檛 any particular policing policies or procedures he would change. However, he said the department could be improved by filling vacant positions and increasing training.

鈥淓veryone needs to learn and grow in their jobs,鈥� he said.听

Amemiya supports several measures demanded by activists including a ban on chokeholds, a requirement for officers to intervene when their peers are misbehaving, and implicit bias training not only for police but all city employees. Chief Susan Ballard has said these measures are already in place at HPD.

A committee, including one Police Commission member, has been reviewing HPD鈥檚 use of force policy. HPD has not yet issued a report on that effort.

Amemiya also supports the use of body cameras, for which a program is 听

The majority of HPD officers are 鈥渙utstanding officers and people鈥� with an increasingly difficult job, Amemiya said.听

鈥淭hey have to handle homelessness and pandemic-related issues,鈥� he said.听

Within the social movement that is demanding police accountability this year, some people believe that police shouldn鈥檛 be responding to social service issues at all and want to 鈥渄efund the police.鈥澨�

Some activists who use his rallying cry want to abolish police departments entirely. Others believe governments should reduce police budgets and allocate money to social services. The idea is that people in crisis are met with a social service provider who specializes in their issue instead of being put into the criminal justice system.听

Amemiya and Blangiardi are not in favor of either option.听

鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 reduce the funds because there is currently a huge vacancy in the number of patrol officers,鈥� Amemiya said. 鈥淪o I hesitate to take away funds if they鈥檙e needed to fill the vacancies.鈥澨�

Instead, HPD should partner with the Honolulu Department of Community Services and nonprofit social service agencies when responding to calls involving mental health crises, homelessness and domestic violence, Amemiya said.听

鈥淚t would be a much more effective way to deal with the homeless to have experts assisting the officers,鈥� Amemiya said.听

While Amemiya does not support cutting HPD鈥檚 city budget, he has criticized Mayor Kirk Caldwell鈥檚 administration for allocating nearly $15 million in CARES funds to police overtime during the pandemic, plus another half million dollars for ATVs and UTVs. In Amemiya鈥檚 view, that money would鈥檝e been better spent bailing out families and small businesses.听

Blangiardi is against reducing police funding and didn鈥檛 take issue with HPD鈥檚 influx of CARES cash. He said he鈥檚 open to working more with social service agencies to address issues like homelessness, but he doesn鈥檛 have a specific plan for that.听

鈥淲e need to get elected first here, but I do think we鈥檙e going to have some modifications in how we do all this,鈥� he said.听

鈥淚鈥檓 not interested in taking money away from the police department. We may reallocate specific duties if we can figure that out, but not necessarily right now taking away monies.鈥澨�