The Kauai Police Department is in turmoil and has been for many years.  The expansive news coverage news coverage of The Kauai Police Department caused  the citizens of this island to lose our communities trust and now live in fear, discouragement and oppression.

Is Kauai a Police State? with all the problems rampant on Kauai and at so many levels, it is easy to understand why Kauai has earned it's reputation as the most corrupt island in Hawaii.

KAUAI POLICE CHIEF LUM STATED:
"If a member of the public reports criminal conduct against a police officer or anybody else, I have the duty to look into the matter."

Chief Lum had never lifted a finger and investigated any complaints against Kauai police officers.

 

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Kauai police lawsuit is settled
http://starbulletin.com/2006/03/10/news/story11.html
A former officer had accused the chief of hindering a case
By Tom Finnegan
tfinnegan@starbulletin.com
LIHUE » A former Kauai police officer who sued his boss, alleging the then-police chief of hindering a sexual assault investigation, settled his suit out of court for $120,000 in November.

The settlement only came to light this week after a published report in the Garden Island. Attorneys for the county and the ex-officer say they kept the settlement out of the news media because a previous article nearly scuttled the deal.

In 2002, former Kauai Police Department Lt. Alvin Seto sued then-Police Chief George Freitas for allegedly hindering the prosecution of a fellow police officer, charged with molestation of his stepdaughter.

The lawsuit followed an acquittal of the officer and the dismissal of a Police Commission case against Freitas. The suit spawned subsequent lawsuits by Freitas and his secretary, Jacquelyn Tokashiki, whom Freitas fired.

Tokashiki's lawsuit, alleging discrimination for testifying against Freitas in the Police Commission case, is awaiting a decision from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Both Freitas and Seto have since retired from KPD.

Lawyers for both sides expressed relief this week that the Seto case was over.

The county's hired attorney, David Minkin, said the settlement was paid by the county's insurer and that "at the end of the day, I doubt Alvin Seto got anything other than reimbursement of fees paid to his attorney."

Plaintiff's attorney Clayton Ikei, however, said Seto received a "substantial amount" and that his client, now a security supervisor at the Pacific Missile Range Facility, is quite happy away from the KPD.

Seto originally had asked for reinstatement to KPD as part of the lawsuit. He claimed he was forced to leave the job after 22 years, but he has a better package as a federal employee, Ikei said.
 

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Found: Thu Nov 09 05:32:21 2006 PST
Source: Garden Island (Lihue, HI)
Copyright: 2006 Kauai Publishing Co.
Contact: letters@kauaipubco.com
Website: http://kauaiworld.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/964
Webpage: http://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2006/11...
Newshawk: http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/


County seeks drug-planting case funds Kauai Garden Island News

by Lester Chang - THE GARDEN ISLAND

County Attorney Lani Nakazawa is asking the Kaua'i County Council today for up to $200,000 for specialized legalized services for a court case in which a Kaua'i Police Department officer allegedly had an informant plant drugs and drug paraphernalia in people's homes and a vehicle.

If approved, the funding would be used to retain special counsel to represent the county in a lawsuit Dominador Lopez and family members have filed against the county and Sgt. Danilo Abadilla.

In two different cases, county prosecutors dismissed the charges against the residents after government attorneys knew or acknowledged Abadilla directed a police agent to plant crystal methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia in a car and in two different homes in 2004 and 2005, attorneys for the plaintiffs said in documents.

Abadilla worked vice in Lihu'e but has been reassigned to the Waimea substation as a patrol officer.

Nakazawa said because the matter is in litigation, she could not comment. Abadilla was not immediately available for comment and did not return calls.

The council is expected to hear the funding request at its meeting at the historic County Building today, and will take up the matter during an executive session because it involves a county employee.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Honolulu in June, names plaintiffs Dominador Lopez, Anastacia Lopez and Lalaine Rabaino, a representative for the estate of Jovencio Lopez and Analyn Manzano.

The plaintiffs claim police searched the home of Rizal Balgos in July 2003, resulting in seizure of ice and paraphernalia.

Balgos then became a police department agent, allege local attorneys Peter Morimoto and Mark Zenger in a lawsuit filed on behalf of the plaintiffs.

The alleged acts of police corruption started in April 2004, when KPD issued a search warrant for a vehicle and home owned by Michael Olivas. Abadilla allegedly ordered Balgos to plant drugs in Olivas' vehicle, state court documents. Then, Abadilla allegedly signaled police officers to execute a search warrant for Olivas' vehicle and home, whose location was not disclosed. The search yielded crystal meth and drug paraphernalia, the lawsuit states.

In May 2005, Olivas was charged with second-degree promotion of a dangerous drug and possession and use of drug paraphernalia.

Although a preliminary hearing was set, the case was continued for about seven months at the request of county prosecutors, the lawsuit alleges.

In November 2004, prosecutors asked Olivas to plead guilty to an alternate charge of third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, but he rejected the offer and demanded a preliminary hearing. Instead of moving forward on the hearing, county prosecutors dismissed the case, the lawsuit alleges.

Olivas' allegations are similar to allegations from defendants Dominador Lopez, Anastacia Lopez, Jovencio Lopez and Manzano, their attorney said.

In June 2004, Abadilla obtained a search warrant for a vehicle driven and properties owned by Dominador Lopez, the lawsuit states. After Balgos planted ice and drug paraphernalia in a Lopez family home, Abadilla allegedly signaled police officers to execute a search warrant.

The officers went into the home with guns drawn, and took aim at Anastacia Lopez, who was ordered to sit at a kitchen table, documents state.

The officers also pointed their guns at Jovencio Lopez, who was crippled and required a walker at the time, and at Dominador Lopez and Manzano.

KPD seized ice and drug paraphernalia the plaintiffs allege were planted. Lopez and Manzano were booked for possession of drugs and paraphernalia.

In May 2005, the prosecutor's office attempted to have Dominador Lopez plead guilty to third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, but Lopez rejected the offer and demanded a trial.

A week before the trial, an unnamed deputy prosecutor told the Lopez family attorneys the drugs had allegedly been planted by Balgos, resulting in the dismissal of drug charges against Dominador Lopez, documents state.

The plaintiffs contend the county knew of other cases where officers had illegally planted drugs to make arrests, but failed to discipline, prosecute or prevent officers from engaging in those activities.

Seven months after the latest raid, Jovencio Lopez passed away, the result of stress from the treatment he received by officers, attorneys claim.

The plaintiffs contend KPD's search was without probable cause, and violated their Fourth and 14th amendment rights.

General damages and special damages will be determined at the trial. The plaintiffs also will seek punitive damages against Abadilla.

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October 18, 2006  The Garden Island Newspaper

Open government, corruption dominate forum
by Lester Chang - THE GARDEN ISLAND
Posted: Wednesday, Oct 18, 2006 - 10:50:08 pm HST


HANALEI — Incumbent County Council members favor open government but say they are compelled by law to hold closed meetings on confidential matters.

It was an excuse that held little water with council challengers at a North Shore candidates forum Tuesday night at the Hanalei School, as they continued to hammer on the theme that all government meetings should be open and all documents released to the public.

“Part of the Sunshine Law has exceptions to open sessions,” said incumbent and self-proclaimed Sunshine champion JoAnn Yukimura. “If you are in management, it is illegal to have personnel matters without confidentiality.”

Former Kaua‘i police chief K.C. Lum had a different take, saying open government doesn’t exist when a resident approaches a county representative and “must know what you are asking for” before being helped.

At least 50 residents attended the North Shore Council and Hanalei/Ha‘ena Community Association-sponsored forum. Incumbent Jay Furfaro and Joseph Ka‘auwai, a police officer running for a council seat for the first time, did not attend. Furfaro, president of Habitat for Humanity, couldn’t break away from a board meeting.

Without those two, though, talk still centered around the current council’s tendency to conduct important business behind closed doors, the incumbents defended their actions ardently.

Incumbent Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho said she has been involved with government work for 25 years and though open government is paramount, “We are bound by what is within the realm of what the law says.”

Hawai‘i state law requires that personnel — hiring, evaluation, dismissal and disciplining of county employees — and labor matters are discussed out of the public eye.

Yukimura agreed, saying closed government sessions are a must in some case.

“Can you imagine consulting your attorney in the openness of a televised session?” she said.

Most challengers disagreed, including Ming Fang, who says government secrecy is a burden on the population.

“People have the right to know virtually everything that goes on in the county council and the government over here,” he said.

Lum said government officials throw up barriers when they don’t help residents.

“If everyone can find and locate documents as they want, there is nothing to hide,” he said. Lum favors posting all council documents to the county Web site.

If government officials can watch a live telecast of council meetings, residents should have the same opportunity, said Lum and fellow challenger Tim Bynum.

One challenger, however, sided with the council’s privacy policies. Ron Kouchi, a councilmember for 20 years before leaving to unsuccessfully run for mayor in 2002, said closed or executive meetings encourage witnesses to come forward on confidential matters.

“Many people are afraid, so we need to create a process to get that information,” said Kouchi. Executive sessions, he went on to say, could be invaluable for the Police Commission in resolving police department problems.

Kouchi said the Police Commission — and not the council — has the authority to investigate claims of police corruption. Without witnesses coming forward and providing information, the commission may not be able to resolve department problems, he said.

The much-maligned police department came up throughout the night, with several challengers including Ming Fang and George Anderson voicing support for former chief Lum.

Anderson said depoliticizing the police department is “one of the most important things for this island,” and alluded to Lum’s ouster as politically motivated.

Corruption in the department was another hot topic, and Yukimura seemed to defend Lum’s forced resignation by saying good leadership in the police department is the best way to address a perception of police corruption.

Hopeful Billy DeCosta put it in plainer terms, saying that while islanders may think they live in a “Cinderella world,” that is not the case. Good guys hang out with bad guys, he said, seeming to imply that corruption is embedded in Kaua‘i beyond the police department.

One incumbent, retired police officer Mel Rapozo, criticized the current police commission for doing nothing with complaints about corruption — namely involving drug busts that don’t happen or crackdowns on the wrong houses that — but quickly turned it into a defense for executive sessions.

“Those things come with lawsuits and claims that we got to defend that end up in executive sessions, which we get criticized for,” he said.

Lum supporters and police and council critics point to lagging arrest numbers, but Iseri-Carvalho, a former county prosecutor, said arrests matter but convictions matter more.

“What really matters is when a criminal is convicted and spends 10 to 20 years in jail for selling drugs to kids,” she said.

Incumbent Daryl Kaneshiro indicated he isn’t so sure police corruption exists and the council has adequately handled management problems of the department in the past.          end of article. 

Listen to an AUDIO file of Daryl Kaneshiro turn me away and not want to discuss the topic and proof of Police Corruption.


 

Three Kauai Police Officers Indicted by Grand Jury for Theft, Falsification of Government Records
By Mark J. Bennett, 8/22/2006 10:55:53 PM

KAUAI, HAWAII: Police Sergeant Wesley F. Perreira, Sergeant Lawrence E. T. Stem, and Officer Channing T. Tada of the Kauai Police Department were indicted on August 21, 2006, by a Hawaii Grand Jury in a 13-count indictment charging the three police officers with various counts of theft and tampering with government record.

The grand jury indictment charges Perreira with one count of attempted theft in the second degree, one count of theft in the second degree and two counts of tampering with a government record. Stem is charged with two counts of theft in the second degree and three counts of tampering with a government record. Tada is charged with two counts of theft in the second degree and two counts of tampering with a government record.

Theft in the second degree is a class C felony punishable by up to 5 years in jail and/or $10,000 fine. Tampering with a government record is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 1 year in jail and a $2,000 fine.

The indictment is the result of a joint investigation conducted the Kauai Police Department and the Department of the Attorney General.

The charges stem from a complaint made to the Kauai Police Department that three officers flew to the island of Maui to attend the Indoor Marijuana Investigation Training and failed to attend both days of training. The training was hosted by the Maui Police Department on September 13 and 14, 2005.

Grand jury bench warrants were issued by Kauai Circuit Court Judge Kathleen Watanabe for the arrest of Perreira, Stem and Tada. They surrendered themselves this afternoon to the Kauai Police Department cellblock and were released after being processed and posting bail.

Arraignment and plea is set for August 24, 2006, 9 a.m. in courtroom 4, on Kauai. An indictment is a mere accusation and the individuals named in the indictment are presumed innocent.

Mark J. Bennett is the attorney general for the state of Hawaii

 

Closed session complaint dismissed

by Amanda C. Gregg- THE GARDEN ISLAND
Posted: Sunday, Oct 22, 2006 - 09:56:31 pm HST


As police commissioners privately discussed Friday a record request and a lawsuit against a Kaua‘i Police officer, one resident spoke out over the need to keep the public informed.

Richard Stauber was challenging two of the seven issues slated for discussion behind closed doors in executive session.

The first of the two issues Stauber wanted discussed openly was summarized on the agenda as a police officer’s request for legal representation for his case.

“The police officer was on duty at the time so it’s his right that the county pay for his lawyer,” Stauber said. “There is no reason for that to be discussed in private.”

The second issue Stauber wanted discussed openly was an update on the state of Hawai‘i Ombudsman’s request for a confidential police commission file.

The file includes a resident’s allegations against the conduct of the Kaua‘i Police Department and the minutes from an executive session in which the officers named in the complaint were discussed.

“The Office of the Ombudsman is a government agency who is looking into that case on behalf of a citizen,” Stauber said. “If the department as a whole or individual did something wrong, that office is one of the last stations the members of the public can go to before walking into the courthouse.”

Police Commissioner Tom Iannucci explained that the commission was within its rights.

“We’re not impeding justice,” he said. “We’re here for the people. I’m not trying to help the police be corrupt.”

Office of Information Practices director Les Kondo backed Iannucci’s statement.

Issues that are personnel matters or that include legal counsel generally come under the umbrella of what can be discussed away from the public, Kondo said.

“A board can convene in an executive meeting closed to the public for eight very specific reasons,” Kondo said.

“Two of which are to consider personnel matters, including evaluating firing or dismissing an employer or officer as well as to discuss legal matters relating to the commission’s powers.”

Commissions and boards can go into executive sessions only after summarizing what it’s about and publicly passing a two-thirds vote to go behind closed doors, something the commission didn’t do at its meeting.

 

FBI Investigates the Kauai Police Department
( KITV 4 audio news clip)

NewsCastVideo
HONOLULU -- The FBI is investigating the Kauai Police Department, KITV has learned. Local politicians said they welcome the investigation because the department has faced numerous allegations of corruption, cover-ups and favoritism.  Read more.....

 

Below are two news articles regarding the Plea offer offered to Pinkerton. 

From Honolulu Advertiser June 16, 2006. Online

Krstafer Pinkerton is making his case - including the posting of
screen shots from police computers - on his personal Web site.

Pinkerton says he is a computer and network analyst who has done work with law enforcement, financial institutions and nonprofit groups. He also has been arrested three times in recent months, and charged with impersonating a police officer, with terroristic threatening and drunken driving, among other charges.

His maintains he has been targeted by a few police officers who have a  grudge against him personally, but that he is a supporter of law enforcement and has friends within the police department. He outlines his side of the issue at www.kpinkerton.com.

In the most recent turn of events, the county prosecuting attorney's office, after conferring with Pinkerton's then-attorney, William  Harrison, agreed to drop all charges if Pinkerton would agree to several conditions - including leaving town, taking down the Web site, revealing how he acquired images from police computers, and  writing letters of apology to three police officers.

Pinkerton refused, and the offer expired May 25.

"That's why my lawyer is no longer representing me. He told me to take the deal," Pinkerton said.

Prosecutor Craig De Costa said he intends to prosecute Pinkerton on the charges that have been brought against him.

Harrison said he could not discuss some issues in the case, but said that he participated in negotiating the plea offer that Pinkerton
rejected. De Costa said the plea agreement was "mutually composed" by  Harrison and De Costa's staff, and while he would not directly address its specific requirements, he suggested that some provisions may have been offers by Pinkerton's side rather than demands of the prosecutor.

"We would never ask someone to leave town. However, if their attorney tells us they intend to leave town, that might make its way into an agreement," De Costa said.

Pinkerton said he might have suggested that he would be willing to
leave the island to have the charges dropped. Harrison said he made the offer because Pinkerton told him he would be willing to leave the island to get the charges dismissed.

Kaua'i attorneys not involved in the case say such a plea deal seems odd to them.

"I've never seen a plea offer before that required the removal of a Web page, or that required someone to leave the island," said attorney Daniel Hempey.


Former prosecuting attorney Ryan Jimenez said he never made such requirements a part of plea agreements when he was in office.

"That seems very unusual to me," Jimenez said.

But Harrison said he has participated in such agreements in Hawai'i
before, deals in which "someone agreed to leave the community in which the offense took place."

De Costa said his concerns about the Web site involve possibly
revealing private information about individuals.

He added that the site displays the contents of screens of police
computers. It is not clear to authorities whether Pinkerton was given screen snapshots by someone inside the department, or he was able to break into the police records management system electronically. In either case, it worries law enforcement.

"I'm concerned if he did gain access to RMS, how he did it, and whether it is a security breach," De Costa said.

Acting police Chief Clay Arinaga said police are conducting their own investigation.

"We have some concerns about some of the information he had access to," Arinaga said. "Some of that is not available to the public."

Pinkerton said he was given the screen snapshots by officers he will not identify.

"A couple of police officers came to me and said, 'Take these.' You
can't hack into that system. It's a closed network. At least, I don't
have the capability of getting into it," he said.

As for the Web site, Pinkerton says he wants the charges dropped, an apology from the county and "a fair settlement."

"This (Web site) is going to continue to sit there if they continue to
maliciously prosecute me," he said.

Another article from the Houston Daily Court Review:

 Defendant Says He Won't Go
John Tompkins

john.tompk...@dcrhouston.com

The message from a prosecutor to a defendant: shut up and leave town. A Hawaiian prosecutor asked Kristafer Pinkerton in a plea agreement to shut down his Web site accusing the local police of brutality and then to leave the island of Kauai which he's lived on for 18 years.

The site, www.kpinkerton.com, alleges that Kauai police physically
assaulted Pinkerton while he was in their custody on an impersonating a police officer charge.

Since the original incident Pinkerton has also been charged with
terroristic threat to an officer, two counts of assault and
intimidating a witness.

The plea agreement, which Pinkerton said he would not agree to, also asked him to drop all civil suits that he has filed against the county. 

The prosecutor in the case, Marc Guyot, would not comment as to why he asked Pinkerton to take down his site citing the case was ongoing.

Pinkerton said his attorney, William Harrison, had asked him to sign
the agreement but Pinkerton refused. He also fired Harrison and has now decided to defend himself.

"It's very unconstitutional," Pinkerton said of the agreement.
"That's my First Amendment right to free speech."

Pinkerton said he would not plea at all and would rather go to prison than admit wrongdoing or give up his allegations that the Kauai police are abusive.

"I'd rather go to jail for 10 years," he said. "I will not back
down to bad cops."

James Alfini, First Amendment expert and dean of the South Texas
College of Law said though the prosecution is not forcing Pinkerton to take down his site, it is overstepping its bounds of authority.

"It's banishment," Alfini said. "The point is to get him out of
their hair which suggests that he may have something on them."

A lot of criminal defendants often accuse police of brutality while in
custody. But Alfini said the prosecutor's requests for Pinkerton to
leave the island, take down his site and drop civil suits against the
city do give his case a good amount of credence.

He added that the prosecution, with this proposed agreement is looking to take care of their interests rather than the interests of the defendant, which should be the focus of any plea deal.

"I don't see subsidiary restorative or rehabilitative aspect of
it," Alfini said. "The sum total of what they are doing is asking
the defendant to give up some rights. I think this is improper."

There may be no legal precedent about the legality of the
prosecution's request, Alfini said. The fact that Pinkerton's Web
site is both a personal journal and a medium makes the case somewhat difficult.

"This is a whole new era," he said. "It gives people the
opportunity to put out their message like they never have before."

Some other things the prosecution asked Pinkterton to do in the
rejected plea agreement:

- Pinkerton would have to waive all statute of limitation rights n
Pinkerton would have to disclose how he received a screen shot of the Kauai Police Department's internal computer system
- Pinkerton would have to write apologies to three of KPD's officers.
- If Pinkerton returned to the island after signing the agreement, the charges would be reinstated.

end of article

3 Kauai officers charged with theft
The men are accused of abusing a business trip to Maui and lying about it to superiors
By Tom Finnegan
tfinnegan@starbulletin.com

LIHUE » Three Kauai police officers were indicted by a grand jury yesterday on charges of theft of government funds and tampering with government records.

Sgt. Wesley Perreira, Channing Tada and Lawrence Stem were vice officers during former Police Chief K.C. Lum's tenure, part of a small group responsible for taking record amounts of methamphetamine off Kauai streets.

But now they stand accused of getting a free vacation with tax dollars and then lying about it on government records.

The three men were each charged with two counts of tampering with a government record, a misdemeanor. Tada and Stem are also charged with two counts of felony theft, while Perreira is charged with one count of felony theft and one count of attempted theft.

According to records, the three went to Maui last September to attend a marijuana-eradication seminar. They rented a car and hotel rooms but never attended the classes. They said they were sick, struck with food poisoning, and filled out paperwork to that effect when they returned.

But the state attorney general's office said the three faked the illness after their superiors started asking questions.

They "falsified records to indicate they were ill," according to the indictment, read aloud in court by Deputy Attorney General Christopher Young.

Young would not comment on the case, and Kauai police Lt. Roy Asher, the special investigator appointed to the case, would only say that "it's a sad day when officers get indicted."

The three were expected to turn themselves in, either today or tomorrow, to the police cellblock, where they were assigned for months while Asher did the investigation.

Perreira's lawyer, Michael Green, did not return a call seeking comment.

At least one prosecutor-turned-defense attorney, Michael Soong, has used the case to his client's advantage.

The Maui case first came to light in Soong's defense motions, where he requested the officers' personnel records to impeach their testimony in a methamphetamine case.

The case also ensnared acting police Chief Clayton Arinaga, who filed a lawsuit against the department for violations of the Whistleblower Protection Act when he tried to start an investigation into the three officers' conduct.

Former Chief Lum suspended Arinaga with pay to look into a hindering-prosecution case, but Arinaga's lawsuit said the suspension was retaliation for trying to investigate the men.

The suit, filed in February, is pending. Arinaga said earlier this month that he and his lawyer were going to review the case.
 

Kauai suit alleges silencing
An assistant police chief says his attempt at whistle-blowing led to officers' retaliation
By Tom Finnegan

LIHUE » Kauai Assistant Police Chief Clayton Arinaga has filed a lawsuit against the county, the Police Department and its chief for allegedly violating the state's whistle-blower law.

The suit, filed in Circuit Court, alleges Police Chief K.C. Lum and the county violated the state Whistleblower's Protection Act after Arinaga tried to tell the chief that police officers were breaking the law.

Instead of initiating an investigation against the officers, the department investigated Arinaga for hindering prosecution in a case that occurred in 2000, the suit alleges.

Arinaga, a 30-year veteran and an assistant police chief for more than five years, was suspended with pay for 30 days and then was forced to take a vacation, the lawsuit said.

It was all retaliation for trying to look into why three vice officers allegedly lied about going to a training seminar on Maui in September, Arinaga's suit contends.

The three vice officers, Wesley Perreira, Channing Tada and Lawrence Stem, were identified in court yesterday by Arinaga's Kauai attorney, Michael Soong, the former county prosecuting attorney. Soong, now in private practice, was trying to get the three officers' personnel records admitted into evidence to counteract their testimony in an unrelated methamphetamine promotion case.

Soong said yesterday that Stem, Tada and Perreira went to Maui for the training, stayed in hotel rooms and rented a car but never attended any of the training sessions. They also went so far as to fill out critiques of the sessions, he said, but then said they suffered food poisoning.

Currently, the three are being investigated by the state attorney general's office, according to court testimony yesterday.

Lum said yesterday the investigations have nothing to do with each other.

"In my opinion, his claim of retaliation has no merit," the chief said. "If a member of the public reports criminal conduct against a police officer or anybody else, I have the duty to look into the matter."

In the 2000 incident involving Arinaga, sources say numerous officers responded to a "shots fired" call at the house of one of Arinaga's relatives.

While Arinaga's lawyers say the relative was suicidal and Arinaga defused the situation, police sources say the man should have been arrested for reckless endangerment but was not at Arinaga's request.

The lawsuit comes after repeated letters to the county attorney's office requesting that "retaliatory acts against A/C Arinaga by Chief K.C. Lum be stopped," according to a letter from Arinaga's lawyers Margery Bronster, John Hoshibata and Soong. The letter says the "retaliation continues unabated."
 

Quoting Mayor Baptiste "Without communication, without a cohesive department, I cannot see the department running on a day-to-day basis in a successful manner"

Quoting Councilman Mel Rapozo "It's not something that you want to see, but considering all the information and the facts in the last year and a half, I think this is the right move and I think the mayor's doing the right thing."

The FBI Investigates the Kauai Police NewsCastVideo
HONOLULU -- The FBI is investigating the Kauai Police Department, KITV has learned. Local politicians said they welcome the investigation because the department has faced numerous allegations of corruption, cover-ups and favoritism

Sunday, April 13, 2003
Probe of Kauai Police widens
The mayor will ask the U.S. attorney and the FBI to investigate corruption allegations
By Anthony Sommer

LIHUE >> Kauai Mayor Bryan Baptiste said yesterday he will ask the U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI to investigate charges that Kauai police officers are members of a criminal organization involved in drug trafficking.

The allegations were made in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court by Kauai police officer Mark Begley against Kauai County, police Chief George Freitas, a police lieutenant and a man who is not a police officer.

"We have a duty to seek the truth for our citizens, and we take these allegations seriously," Baptiste said in a prepared statement released yesterday. "The county is therefore making a request to the FBI and the U.S. attorney for the initiation of an investigation into the allegations in this case."

Baptiste followed that comment with an endorsement of the Kauai Police Department: "I believe we have fine men and women serving in the Police Department who are dedicated professionals with a vested interest in creating and promoting safe environments for our communities."   Read the rest of this story here
 

Council to investigate KPD
By Lester Chang - The Garden Island
Posted: Sunday, Dec 04, 2005 - 05:06:38 am HST


LIHU'E — Members of the Kaua'i County Council have established an investigative committee to probe activities and operations of the Kaua'i Police Department.

The establishment of the committee comes on the heels of a KPD cost-overrun of $332,000 in overtime pay for fiscal year 2004-05, and the potential for more cost overruns on the same matter this fiscal year, alleged misuse of federal and county funds by police officers, and pending police-related claims against the county.

The circumstances are so grave that they could significantly impact the county's fiscal health, council members said in a resolution they passed during a regular weekly meeting in the council chambers of the historic County Building.

The resolution establishes the authority of members of the council to create the investigative committee. During a discussion on a related matter at the meeting, council Chairman Kaipo Asing noted that three police-related claims that go against the county in court could "cost the county a lot of money."

Asing emphasized that county leaders' hiring of an outside attorney offers the best defense against costly court settlements or court decisions against the county. Asing introduced the resolution.

Bryson M. Ponce, a Kaua'i police officer and chairman of the Kaua'i chapter of the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers (SHOPO), attended the meeting in support of the resolution.

"We support the resolution, because there are lot of problems stemming from disgruntled police officers, low morale, and questions about (Kaua'i Police Department Chief) K.C.'s (Lum's) leadership ability," Ponce told The Garden Island Friday.

Ponce said, "a lot of officers have questioned his ability to lead the department, focusing on his integrity, fairness, and ability to unite the department."

Ponce said supporting the resolution doesn't in any way mean the "union is attacking K.C. personally."

"It is the same with any chief," he said. "If there are problems, and our members bring this to our union, we have the responsibility to investigate and try to resolve the problems."

Among those attending the meeting was KPD Assistant Chief Clayton Arinaga, who was recently put on administrative leave with pay by Lum.

Lum was not immediately available for comment on Friday.

Kaua'i Police Commission Chairman Michael Ching, and fellow commissioners Carol Furtado and Leon Gonsalves Jr. attended the council meeting at which the resolution was passed, but didn't comment.

The resolution activates investigative powers granted to the council by the Kaua'i County Charter.

The drafters of the resolution noted that the motivation of the resolution stemmed from these concerns:
 

The cost overruns of $322,000 in overtime pay for fiscal year 2004-2005, a situation most council members and county Department of Finance folks contend is Lum's problem. Lum has accepted responsibility for the overrun, and pledged to try to reduce overtime in the current fiscal year (from now through June 30, 2006). County officials said Lum essentially failed to keep track of his spending, and didn't communicate with staff members on how much money was going out for expenditures each month. But Lum, who is also owner and operator of a small coffee business, said that wasn't the case at all. Lum also said that the budget of $12 million or so allotted by council members in fiscal year 2004-05 was not enough, and that having to shift funds to cover overtime pay to keep a proper police presence on the island was a foregone conclusion. He also said his efforts to control costs were undercut by members of the council's decision to trim KPD's request for $1.5 million to cover overtime to $750,000. Council members said Lum took a misstep by not asking the council to appropriate additional funds to cover the cost overrun. Lum said figures he worked with showed he had enough funds to cover KPD's operations in the waning months of fiscal year 2004-05. Fiscal years begin on July 1, and end on June 30 each year. Upper-management personnel with the KPD reported the same problems were occurring early on in fiscal year 2005-06, but that they were manageable through the internal shifting of funds within the department. A last resort would be for KPD officials to turn to members of the council for additional funds to correct funding shortages, KPD officials said at a council meeting in the fall;

Police-related claims against the county. Such claims could lead to costly settlements or costly lawsuits;

Suspected abuse of federal law-enforcement grant funds and other funding that had been approved by members of the council for police work. Lum had been contacted by The Garden Island about one such instance of alleged abuse, but declined to comment because the matter is under investigation.

The resolution noted that members of the investigative committee, made up of all seven members of the council, will have the scope and power to investigate, gather information, assess, and make recommendations on the following:

Fiscal and decision-making authority and accountably within the department;

Personnel issues, including those related to the use of the federal lawenforcement grant funds;

Processing and responding to complaints about police officers by citizens;

"Fair, clear and consistent application" of any of the department's standards of conduct and disciplinary policies to minimize liability to the county.

Among their powers, committee members can issue subpoenas through a presiding officer, call on witnesses to testify, hold hearings, and administer oaths and affirmation to witnesses at committee hearings.

Copies of the resolution were forwarded to Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste, Lum, and leaders of SHOPO and the Hawaii Government Employees Association.

Your Government: County spending hundreds of thousands on outside counsel
http://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2006/03/26/news/news06.txt
By Lester Chang — THE GARDEN ISLAND
Posted: Tuesday, May 23, 2006 - 10:16:27 am HST


The Kaua‘i County Council this week approved the use of up to $300,000 for lawsuits high-placed police officers and a Kaua‘i group advocating property tax reform have lodged against Kaua‘i County.

The council, meeting Wednesday at the historic County Building, did not take the action lightly.

Why? Because county has already come under a barrage of public claims against police officers and lawsuits officers have filed against one another or against the county that could result in costly settlements or litigation, council chairman Kaipo Asing and other council members have complained.

Although the county pays insurance premiums to cover litigation costs, residents are asking their political leaders what have been the circumstances that have come about that have triggered so much legal action against the county.

In its latest action, the council approved the following: • Up to $100,000 to hire special counsel to represent the county in a lawsuit filed against it by Kauai Police Department Assistant Chief Clayton Arinaga.

In his lawsuit filed in 5th Circuit Court, Arinaga alleged retaliation by Kaua‘i Police Chief K.C . Lum in violation of the state’s Whistleblowers’ Protection Act.

Arinaga contended Lum took action against him for reporting on three vice officers who were to have attended events at a training seminar on Maui last year, but did not.

Arinaga said he found out in September last year that the three officers failed to attend the training seminar that had been approved by KPD and funded by Kaua‘i County and the federal government.

Arinaga claimed as well that Lum told him that no investigation was needed, and that officials with the Kaua‘i County Prosecutor’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigations also deemed an investigation unnecessary.

Lum, meanwhile, characterized Arinaga’s lawsuit as being without merit, noting that an investigation had been initiated and is ongoing, and that he is obligated, as a law enforcement officer, to begin an investigation if he suspects a crime has occurred.

• Up to $100,000 has been requested for the county to hire special counsel to represent county defendants in Lum’s lawsuit against the county.

Lum filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Honolulu against Mayor Bryan Baptiste, Kaua‘i Police Commissioner Leon Gonsalves and the Kaua‘i County Council alleging discrimination and a conspiracy.

Lum contends the alleged illegal activities started even before he was sworn in as Kaua‘i’s newest police chief on Oct. 15, 2004. On the same day, Ron Venneman also was sworn in as the deputy police chief.

On Oct. 14, Leon Gonsalves sent out an e-mail to a personal friend that compared Lum and Venneman to two character in the 1960s television show “Bonanza.” Gonsalves called Lum “Hop Sing,” the name of the Chinese cook who appeared in that long-running television series, prompting Lum, who is of Chinese descent, to file a Hawaii Civil Rights complaint against Gonsalves in April 2005.

Gonsalves also called Venneman “Little Joe,” one of the brothers who operated a fictitious ranch in the television series.

In calling Lum “Hop Sing” in an e-mail that was circulated among county employee’s computers in October of that year, Gonsalves said he never intended to hurt anyone.

Gonsalves said he has been calling Lum “Hop Sing,” since he and Lum worked together as detectives in the 1980s.

Gonsalves, who is retired from the force and now sits on the Kaua‘i Police Commission, said he wasn’t trying to hurt anyone and wasn’t making any derogatory remarks against anyone.

Because of his thick, black and wavy hair, Gonsalves said he was regularly called “Angus” when he was with KPD.

Lum also claims Gonsalves had harassed him and tried to embarrass him at police commission meetings, and has sought to impose sanctions against him as police chief.

Last year, Lum overran his overtime budget by some $320,000, the first time a county official has gone over a department budget in that amount, county officials said.

Lum went over his allotted budget for overtime, but he has since been able to mitigate the problem by tapping other department funds, watching expenses and reshuffling manpower.

Gonsalves described the budget overrun of some $320,000 as unacceptable and grilled Lum on the expenditures of his department.

Lum has outlined his goals for the department to both the Kaua‘i County Council, which is to begin a probe of the Kauai Police Department, and the Kaua‘i Police Commission, which has initiated a process to determine whether to keep him or fire him as police chief.

Lum says he has gotten on the wrong side of the status quo of the KPD and wants to “end business as usual,” to streamline the KPD operations and heighten the safety of Kaua‘i residents.

• Up to another $100,000 has been approved to prevent Mayor Bryan Baptiste and the Kaua‘i County Council from implementing the directive of the Ohana Kauai amendment which was passed by voters in the 2004 election.

That proposal advocates reducing property taxes for residents living in their homes to the tax amount they paid in 1998.

The measure also would limit tax increases to 2 percent a year this year, a year after the proposal took effect.

The Ohana Kauai group posed the charter amendment because they felt that, with skyrocketing assessments and huge county budgets, property tax-reform was necessary.

The council agrees with that premise and has passed numerous bills that have provided millions of dollar in tax relief. The mayor signed those measures into law.

Budgets have been larger in recent years due to higher assessments that have generated more tax revenues that have gone into county coffers.

The budgets would have been larger had the council and the mayor not agreed to huge tax relief measures.

While the Ohana Kauai proponents have supported immediate implementation of the approved charter amendment, county leaders have raised constitutional issues over whether the measure can affect the taxing authority of county governments.

The matter is before the Hawai‘i Supreme Court for resolution.


 

Posted: April 29, 2005 05:00 PM
Council keeps Kauai police commissioner after racial slur
Leslie Wilcox

A Kauai police commissioner caught making a racial slur about the new police chief has survived a move to oust him. Leon Gonsalves Sr. will remain on the police commission.

It's been a political embarrassment for Kauai Mayor Bryan Baptiste -- a derogatory private e-mail written by his very first appointee, e-mail that went public and produced a community outcry.

The e-mail writer, Leon Gonsalves Sr., is a retired police officer who was the only commissioner voting against K.C. Lum as the new police chief.

Lum was depicted in Gonsalves' email as Hop Sing, a stereotypical Chinese cook in the old TV series "Bonanza." Gonsalves referred to Lum's deputy, Harold "Ron" Venneman, as Little Joe, also from the old TV show.

In October of last year, Gonsalves wrote, "Tomorrow is the swearing in for Hop Sing and Little Joe. I wouldn't be there... I might throw up."

In the ensuing backlash, Gonsalves said the e-mail wasn't intended to hurt anyone. He said, "I apologize if I offended anyone."

But he wouldn't yield to calls for him to resign. Baptiste eventually decided Gonsalves should be removed from the post. He needed Council support to do it.

"I love him dearly but at the same time anyone who makes that mistake has to live with their mistakes," said Baptiste. "It's about people's perceptions in government and what we do and I think that's what caused me to make the decision that I did."

The mayor's request to oust Gonsalves was heard at a council hearing last night. The council shelved the request by a vote of six to one, with chairman Kaipo Asing taking exception.

Baptiste thought the decision might go Gonsalves' way.

"We're balancing 55 years-plus community work with one mistake," said Baptiste.

We were unable to reach Lum for his reaction to the council's support for Gonsalves

Posted on: Friday, January 27, 2006
Kaua'i police troubles have escalated in recent years
Kaua'i police factions pit 'officer against officer'
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau

LIHU'E, Kaua'i —During 2003 and 2004, at a time when the Kaua'i Police Department was busy tearing itself apart trying to get rid of one chief and hire another, the county had the highest rate of violent crime in the state. The 2004 property crime rate was higher than on the Big Island but lower than Maui and O'ahu.

Police Chief K.C. Lum said preliminary data show violent crime and property crimes are dropping, and he credited an emphasis on increased drug enforcement. Lum said the department confiscated five times more crystal methamphetamine in the first seven months of 2005 than in 2003.  But the agency's problems go far beyond crimefighting. It was recently disclosed that FBI agents in recent months have been looking into several issues at the Kaua'i Police Department. Details of the investigation have not been released.  The problems at the police department are not new. In 2003, Mayor Bryan Baptiste called on the U.S. attorney and the FBI to look into allegations of corruption within the department. That request followed the filing of a federal lawsuit that alleged, in part, that officers were trafficking in drugs. That lawsuit has still not been resolved.

The police department overspent its budget in the last fiscal year by $300,000, its first-ever deficit. Lum said no one told him there was a shortfall, and that financial information is still slow in coming from the county administration.

Other financial worries include mounting costs from lawsuits filed by police officers against other officers and claims by residents alleging false arrest, brutality and other misconduct.  "It's alarming. I'm very, very concerned," said county Finance Director Michael Tresler.

Two of the lawsuits were filed by police officers against the department and fellow officers, alleging, in part, that officers were involved in drug trafficking. One suit was filed early in Lum's administration and the other under former chief George Freitas. Neither has come to trial.  "When several officers tell me they were more afraid of other officers than of the addicts on the street, that's a problem," said Kaua'i County Councilwoman Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho, a former deputy prosecutor who is pushing for a council investigation of the police department. The allegations of misconduct have caught the attention of the FBI, which has been talking with witnesses in at least three different cases. The FBI will not comment on possible investigations, but several Kaua'i residents confirmed that federal agents have interviewed them, most recently within the past two weeks.

Meanwhile, police department employees are filing an increasing number of grievances. Bryson Ponce, Kaua'i president of the State of Hawai'i Organization of Police Officers, said police officers filed 29 grievances in 2005, compared to an average of five to seven annually in the previous five years.  Hawai'i Government Employees Association agent Dale Shimomura said grievances by civilian employees also have increased under Lum.


Turmoil grips Kauai Police
Low morale and divisiveness prompt an unprecedented Council inquiry
By Tom Finnegan
tfinnegan@starbulletin.com

LIHUE » The Kauai County Council is investigating the Garden Isle's police department, Chief K.C. Lum, and the Kauai Police Commission, in an unprecedented move that Lum supporters call politically motivated retaliation. The council voted unanimously Thursday to authorize the investigation, citing low morale, numerous civilian complaints, possible lawsuits, budget problems and more. It is the first time the council has used their investigative powers, which are allowed under the Kauai County Charter.
The council gave themselves the right to subpoena witnesses, hire staff, and hold hearings, both in public and private, to investigate reported problems of the Garden Isle's police force, which has 128 officers.

According to the council's resolution, the investigation would also delve into personnel matters, specifically as they involve federal funding.

Council members and the chairman of the police union testified that Lum is to blame for horrible morale, an increase in civilian complaints and union grievances, as well as a budget overrun of more than $300,000 last year. They criticized the police commission for a lack of oversight of the chief and for poor response to civilian complaints and grievances.

"Without the investigation, we'll deteriorate to the point where (KPD) won't function," said Councilman Mel Rapozo. "No one seems to care enough to do something."

Council takes lead to unseat Lum
By Lester Chang - The Garden Island
Posted: Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006 - 11:44:20 pm HST

The Kaua‘i County Council yesterday took action to cancel Kaua‘i Police Chief K.C. Lum’s contract on the strength of a Kaua‘i Ethics Board investigation showing the selection process for a new police chief had been tainted by former Kaua‘i Police Commissioner Michael Ching.

The action taken during a council meeting at the historic County Building came after government watchdog Glenn Mickens painted the Ethics Board recommendations and the investigation, including the work of a retired judge, as being part of a conspiracy to oust Lum.

The charge left Kaua‘i Council Chairman Kaipo Asing, council Vice-Chairman James Tokioka and other council members flabbergasted and dumbfounded.

“I have to challenge you on your assumption of conspiracy,” Asing said. “You’re almost attacking someone that has a tremendous reputation in the judicial system, a retired judge that has many, many years (of experience in collecting facts and making court rulings).”

Asing said the work done by E. John McConnell, a former judge who served as a hearing officer in the investigation, was above question and that the judge performed his duties honestly and objectively.

In his defense Mickens said, while he felt Mayor Bryan Baptiste, the Ethics Board, the council and the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers have conspired to give Lum the boot, the judge was not part of the conspiracy. Council members countered that Mickens’ testimony strongly suggested the judge was also part of the “conspiracy.” Yesterday’s action triggered the official process by the council to remove Lum.

Lum, who became chief in 2004, has come under fire for not properly leading the Kaua‘i Police Department, for not correcting morale problems among his 140-plus uniformed officers, and for significantly going over budget on overtime pay.

Baptiste and councilmembers Mel Rapozo, a retired Kaua‘i police officer, and Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho, a former Kaua‘i County prosecutor, have publicly called for Lum to step down.

Lum said he is doing the job, and that the declining number of drug and crime cases on Kaua‘i is one example. He also said building morale in the department is a constant process, as it is for any organization or business. Lum claimed department funds are being used more efficiently and department goals have been set for the future.

By its actions yesterday, the council said that effort is too little and comes a little too late.

The Kaua‘i Police Commission has the sole authority of dismissing a police chief, but the council, through its actions yesterday, authorized other county officials or boards to take action to end Lum’s employment with the county.

The council approved two motions yesterday.

One motion allows for the cancellation of the contract in accordance with Kaua‘i County Code Section 3-1.11 a. and b. and the imposition of $2,000 in fines on Michael Ching.

Ching resigned from the commission last month after the ethics board recommended punitive actions against him for manipulating the process in the selection of the new police chief, giving preference to Lum.

The second motion calls on county Finance Director Michael Tresler to immediately cancel Lum’s employment contract with the county, after consulting with Baptiste, and calls on the county attorney’s office to assess $2,000 in fines against Ching and to collect the money from him.

The second motion also transmits the council’s actions yesterday to the Kaua‘i Police Commission.

Contacted yesterday, Lum merely acknowledged the council’s action.

“The Kaua‘i County Council took action on the recommendation of the ethics commission to accept the cancellation of my employment contract. I have yet to receive any written confirmation from the director of finance on the council’s actions,” Lum said. “I believe this administrative action by the County Council directing the finance director through the mayor is a breach of contract and a denial of my due process rights. I also believe that this issue can be resolved fairly only in a civil court.”

Per his interpretation of the county code, Lum has said county officials cannot terminate a personal contract, such as the one he has with the county.

Mickens said as well that Kaua‘i County Code Section 3-1.11 c. can’t be used to cancel a personal contract.

Rapozo said the entire section, within which is the condition Mickens cites, has “nothing to do” with the cancellation of a contract and has more to do with county contracts and contract bids.

Lum also has said he will continue to work even if his contract has been canceled.

The council paid out $150,000 to conduct the ethics hearing and to hire a judge with no ties to Kaua‘i to conduct the investigation, Asing and Rapozo said.

Mickens wondered why the investigation centered on Ching, when Stanton Pa and Victor Punua supported Lum’s selection as police chief when they served as police commissioner

“Pressure was put on Mike Ching to step down, and I want to be on the record as saying that I have a great deal of respect for the six years of dedicated service that Mr. Ching gave this county,” Mickens said.

Mickens contended officials are hoping to drum up the required three votes on the police commission to remove Lum. Attending the meeting yesterday were police commissioners Carol Ann Furtado, Thomas Iannucci and Russell Grady, but none spoke. The last remaining commissioner Leon Gonsalves did not attend the meeting.

Council members based their actions on two significant findings by the hearing officer, retired judge McConnell:

In requesting favorable endorsement by SHOPO, Ching used his position to give Lum an unfair advantage over others who wanted to become the next KPD chief.

Through his actions Ching, the Ethics Board found, violated a section of the Kaua‘i County Code of Ethics under the Kaua‘i County Charter.

In nominating and advocating for and voting for Lum as the interim chief, Ching used his official position for the benefit of Lum, and thereby violated another county code.

County primer on ethics, bad news for Lum.

Police Commissioner Michael Ching is gone from the body that will determine Police Chief K.C. Lum's fate. And things are not looking good for Lum.

Former commissioner Ching was forced to resign over an ethics violation. Ching resigned effective Thursday, two days after a motion for reconsideration in front of the Board of Ethics of the county of Kaua'i was denied. Ching was the subject of the Board of Ethics violation complaint over his role in selecting chief Lum to his current role back in 2004. The BOE, in its findings released yesterday, states that Ching conducted a campaign to get Lum appointed the interim police chief in early 2004 thus giving him an unfair advantage in becoming the police chief later in the year.
Ching voted as a member of the police commission to select Lum to the position as the interim chief in March 2004, and to police chief in September that same year. In retired Judge John McConnell's denial of reconsideration for Ching he states: "The mere nomination of K.C. Lum for interim chief and casting of a vote for K.C. Lum as interim chief did not in and of themselves constitute violations of the Ethics Code, but (the hearings officer) finds that there is substantial evidence on the record that (Ching) used his position as a Commissioner to give Chief K.C. Lum an unfair advantage over the other candidates (in the selection of police chief) and that under the totality of the circumstances in this case, his actions constituted a violation of the Ethics Code."

So in this process to remove the police chief — with far-reaching implications — we have a Board of Ethics opinion that states Ching's vote to make Lum the interim was appropriate, but his actions smacked of favoritism and his influence helped get Lum the job as chief. The opinion, as a result of these violations, suggests moving forward with impeachment proceedings for Ching. Ching, rather than face impeachment proceedings, resigned. But the opinion does not stop there. It suggests removing the chief: "The Board of Ethics recommends that the Director of Finance void the County's contract with Chief K.C. Lum." It appears an opinion that states there was improperly used influence by a commissioner who resigned as a result of those findings, will now be used to further justify the removal of a Police Chief. The chief was not found guilty of any ethics violation, yet he finds himself tainted by the opinion. Did he have an opportunity to defend himself against these accusations? If Ching's vote is ethical, why would his influence be cause for the removal of the chief? In the meantime, Leon "Hop Sing-saying" Gonsalves voted at a special police commission meeting Thursday to charge Lum with not doing his job — the next step in his removal.

Two other commissioners, Russell Grady and Thomas Iannucci, voted with Gonsalves. Lone commissioner Carol Furtado held out in favor of Lum.

It appears there is nothing wrong ethically with making public a racial slur about a person of authority one is tasked with hiring and firing. Furthermore, there must be nothing ethically wrong with a standing mayor asking for Gonsalves's resignation and his refusal to step down. Apparently, the County Council found no ethical violations when they voted to keep Gonsalves, deeming his actions "no big deal." And apparently there is nothing wrong ethically with taking part in the "fair" process of deciding whether to remove a person whom one issued a racial slur about. Doesn't it seem that Gonsalves is using his influence to get rid of someone he dislikes? Ching used his influence to hire someone he likes.

Ethically unchallenged may be a fair assessment of the situation, ethically challenged the condition. Supporting a likely candidate who is qualified for an important community position raises all kinds of alarm bells and appears to be grounds for impeachment, but claiming public dislike and using a racial slur against a person one is voting to remove from office appears acceptable. While all of the recent ethical opinion-making against Ching was occurring, Lum's petition to have Gonsalves recused from actions concerning his future keeps being tabled to a future date, while Gonsalves continues to vote.

At yesterday's regular police commission meeting, the commissioner's put off any decision on the petition until an eligibility hearing is held to determine which commissioners can take part in the removal process.

With the vote to charge Lum with not doing his job at Thursday's special meeting, the process to have Lum removed may have run its course before we even know if the commissioners were eligible to participate.

Seems perfectly ethical.

Kauai's Lum files $1.2M suit
The embattled police chief alleges violation of his civil rights
By Tom Finnegan and Rod Antone

After being the subject of a recent lawsuit and requests for his resignation, Kauai Police Chief K.C. Lum fought back yesterday by suing some of his detractors for $1.2 million.

Lum held a press conference yesterday to announce that his lawyer, Clayton Ikei, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Kauai county, the County Council, Mayor Bryan Baptiste and a police commissioner, Leon Gonsalves Sr.

Lum acknowledged the lawsuit could make it more difficult to fire him, which is scheduled for a vote at this month's Kauai Police Commission meeting, but he said the suit is about discrimination and retaliation as an American of Chinese descent.

The complaint alleges that an e-mail sent by Gonsalves in 2004 referred to Lum with an ethnic slur, and after requesting Gonsalves' resignation, Lum was subject to discrimination, reprisals, harassment and a "civil conspiracy to deprive him of his civil rights."
 
By Cynthia Kaneshiro - The Garden Island
Posted: Saturday, Mar 25, 2006 - 12:55:40 am HST
The Kauai County Police Commission voted Friday to hold off on acting on police chief K.C. Lum's petition to exclude commissioner Leon Gonsalves' involvement in removing the chief.

The commissioners decided to take up Lum's petition on the date that an eligibility hearing will be held to find out if each commissioner may participate in the removal process. The date for that hearing has not been set.

All four commissioners voted in favor of holding off on chief Lum's petition.

Lum pointed out to the commissioners that he will be on an extended vacation starting April 15 to June 1. He indicated that the petition will have to be taken up after he returns from vacation.

Kauai suit alleges silencing
An assistant police chief says his attempt at whistle-blowing led to officers' retaliation
By Tom Finnegan
 

LIHUE » Kauai Assistant Police Chief Clayton Arinaga has filed a lawsuit against the county, the Police Department and its chief for allegedly violating the state's whistle-blower law.

The suit, filed in Circuit Court, alleges Police Chief K.C. Lum and the county violated the state Whistleblower's Protection Act after Arinaga tried to tell the chief that police officers were breaking the law.

Instead of initiating an investigation against the officers, the department investigated Arinaga for hindering prosecution in a case that occurred in 2000, the suit alleges.

Arinaga, a 30-year veteran and an assistant police chief for more than five years, was suspended with pay for 30 days and then was forced to take a vacation, the lawsuit said.

It was all retaliation for trying to look into why three vice officers allegedly lied about going to a training seminar on Maui in September, Arinaga's suit contends.

The three vice officers, Wesley Perreira, Channing Tada and Lawrence Stem, were identified in court yesterday by Arinaga's Kauai attorney, Michael Soong, the former county prosecuting attorney. Soong, now in private practice, was trying to get the three officers' personnel records admitted into evidence to counteract their testimony in an unrelated methamphetamine promotion case.

Soong said yesterday that Stem, Tada and Perreira went to Maui for the training, stayed in hotel rooms and rented a car but never attended any of the training sessions. They also went so far as to fill out critiques of the sessions, he said, but then said they suffered food poisoning.

Currently, the three are being investigated by the state attorney general's office, according to court testimony yesterday.

Lum said yesterday the investigations have nothing to do with each other.

"In my opinion, his claim of retaliation has no merit," the chief said. "If a member of the public reports criminal conduct against a police officer or anybody else, I have the duty to look into the matter."

In the 2000 incident involving Arinaga, sources say numerous officers responded to a "shots fired" call at the house of one of Arinaga's relatives.

While Arinaga's lawyers say the relative was suicidal and Arinaga defused the situation, police sources say the man should have been arrested for reckless endangerment but was not at Arinaga's request.

The lawsuit comes after repeated letters to the county attorney's office requesting that "retaliatory acts against A/C Arinaga by Chief K.C. Lum be stopped," according to a letter from Arinaga's lawyers Margery Bronster, John Hoshibata and Soong. The letter says the "retaliation continues unabated."

---------------------------------------------

Convoluted legal drama
grips police department
Kauai County faces a lawsuit by an ex-cop
after paying $100,000 to his female accuser

http://starbulletin.com/2003/06/09/news/story4.html

By Anthony Sommer
tsommer@starbulletin.com
LIHUE >> Kauai County agreed to pay a little more than $100,000 to a former police dispatcher to settle a claim accusing the Police Department of coercing her to file a sexual harassment criminal complaint she did not want to file.

The Kauai County Council approved the settlement -- $86,000 in damages, $11,500 for psychological counseling and $3,000 to settle a worker's compensation claim -- one year ago in a closed-door session, but the Kauai County Attorney's Office repeatedly refused to make the amount public until last week. Normally, a settlement is public record as soon as the legislative body of the county or state approves it.

The release of information came less than a week after former police Lt. Alvin Seto filed a lawsuit against the county and police Chief George Freitas in U.S. District Court claiming he was wrongfully forced out of his job. Seto is seeking $750,000 in damages from the county.

The dispatcher's complaint, filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Jan. 3, 2002, accused Seto of coercing the dispatcher into filing the sexual harassment complaint against police officer Nelson Gabriel, who also was working as a dispatcher.

Gabriel was awaiting trial at the time on a charge that he sexually molested his stepdaughter. His wife planned to testify for Gabriel that her daughter had a long history of making false accusations against people who angered her.

Seto, who had investigated the case, wanted to use the sexual harassment complaint made by the dispatcher to persuade Gabriel's wife to change her testimony.

Freitas refused to allow Seto to use the sexual harassment complaint because it was confidential.

Gabriel was acquitted of the molestation charges.

Seto, in return, accused the chief of the criminal offense of hindering the prosecution of Gabriel. But the county Prosecutor's Office refused to file charges against Freitas. After suspending Freitas with pay for five months, the Kauai Police Commission found the hindering-prosecution allegation against the chief had no basis and threw it out.

Seto's lawsuit against Freitas, filed last week, makes the same hindering-prosecution allegation against Freitas.

The suit also means the Kauai County Attorney's Office must do a complete about-face.

Originally, the county attorney was representing Seto and the county against the charges made to the EEOC by the dispatcher. The settlement reached a year ago and made public last week ended that case.

And the county was defending the Kauai Police Commission against a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court by Freitas, who claimed the commission's decision to investigate the charges Seto made against him deprived him of his right to a fair hearing guaranteed him in the County Charter. The court dismissed Freitas' lawsuit because he ultimately kept his job and received no punishment.

Now the county attorney is on the police chief's team representing Freitas against the lawsuit filed by Seto.

In the settlement in the dispatcher case, the county also agreed to give her another county job.

After he filed the lawsuit, Seto said in an interview that he had "run into the dispatcher's mother in a bookstore and advised her that her daughter could file a formal complaint." He insisted his role was no more than that.

But the dispatcher, in her sworn EEOC complaint, claims Seto coerced her into filing a formal complaint and making a telephone call to Gabriel in which he made some admissions. That call was taped by police with intent of playing it to Gabriel's wife. Freitas, on the advice of the county attorney, refused to allow Seto to use the tape.

Initially, the dispatcher said, when Gabriel made sexual advances to her, she went to her supervisor and asked only that she be placed on a different shift.

She said her supervisor went to Seto -- who worked in investigations and had no direct role with dispatchers -- and told him about the complaint.

"Lt. Seto, in turn, contacted my mother and began pressuring her to pressure me to file criminal charges against Mr. Gabriel," the dispatcher said in her EEOC complaint. "Seto was not even supposed to have known about my administrative complaint."

"Lt. Seto told my mother to be sure that she tell me to leave his name out of this investigation because he was not supposed to be involved," she said.

Seto sent two detectives to the dispatcher's father's house to obtain a formal complaint from her against Gabriel and to set up the recorded telephone conversation with Gabriel. "At this point I was afraid to resist the detectives. I was afraid that I would be fired or otherwise disciplined if I did not now fully yield to the criminal investigation," the dispatcher wrote.

She also said Seto had urged her to lie to the detectives, but she refused to do so.

"Lt. Seto urged me to tell the detectives that Nelson Gabriel had kissed me on my neck at work. He stated, 'Make sure you tell them about Gabriel kissing your neck.' The problem was that Nelson Gabriel had never kissed my neck, and I had never stated that he had done so.

"Being pressured to lie in a criminal case by a powerful uniformed man was a terrifying proposition. I did not lie in my statement to the detectives; however, I became sickened with anxiety," she wrote.

Gabriel was charged with misdemeanor harassment and found guilty. He was placed on probation and still is working as a police officer. Seto quit the force and now is working as a security supervisor at the Navy's Pacific Missile Range on Kauai.

Seto's attorney, Calvin Ikei, did not return repeated telephone calls seeking comment.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 

Sunday, November 4, 2001

 

 

PHOTO COLLAGE BY BRYANT FUKUTOMI / BFUKUTOMI@STARBULLETIN.COM

source:
http://starbulletin.com/2001/11/04/editorial/special.html
 

 

Steeped in secrecy, charges of
racism and sexism plague the
Kauai Police Department

---

By Tony Sommer
tsommer@starbulletin.com

 

LIHUE >> Bubbling just below the surface of the strange case of Kauai Police Chief George Freitas are broader and persistent questions, always asked in hushed tones, about racism and sexism in the Kauai Police Department.

The racist question arises because, on an island where 37 percent of the labor force is Caucasian, only one white officer holds a rank above sergeant --- and that's Freitas. He has been suspended with pay since Aug. 10 as a consequence of a complaint filed by two senior KPD officers, Lt. Alvin Seto and Inspector Mel Morris. Neither Freitas nor the public have been apprised of the specific charges against him, if any.

Freitas, whose family is Portuguese, was born and raised on Oahu but spent most of his police career in Richmond, Calif., and is considered by some senior KPD officers to be an outsider. He was hired in 1995 to bring diversity to a police department that had been almost entirely male, Japanese-American and Hawaiian. He recruited more Filipinos and Caucasians as patrolmen but the department has only two officers of Chinese or Korean ancestry.

The ranks of the senior lieutenants and inspectors in the KPD are deeply divided over the investigation of Freitas. His supporters and critics appear to break along generational lines. The older lieutenants and inspectors who rose through the ranks before Freitas was hired are the most critical. Younger senior officers openly support Freitas.

As one insider said of the chief's critics: "They firmly believe in rewarding their friends and punishing their enemies." Their numbers are dwindling as they retire but many have resisted the reforms Freitas has attempted to make.

Similarly, the sexist issue arises because no woman has risen above the rank of sergeant when women comprise 46 percent of the island's labor force.

Only five of the KPD's 94 officers are women. Two episodes -- one involving a woman suspect and the other involving a woman KPD officer -- illustrate the attitude of some KPD officers toward women.

An exotic dancer named Monica Alves was arrested for alleged prostitution in 1995. Alves was forced to strip and was fondled and photographed in the nude in the Lihue Police Station. A sergeant and two patrolmen were fired and two more patrolmen resigned.

Arbitrators later ordered two of the fired officers rehired and the third was put back to work before the arbitrator issued a ruling.

 

While the arbitrators said the patrolmen were wrong, they said the blame lies with supervisors in the KPD who created a climate in which a woman suspect was mistreated.

"It appears that activities at the Lihue Police Station were allowed to proceed without the type of control one would expect at a police station," Max Graham, a Lihue attorney, wrote in his findings. "It further appears that more senior officers knew or should have known that better control was warranted."

Alves later sued Kauai County and received a $250,000 settlement. In 1998, she and her husband, Mitchell Peralto, were convicted of the murder of Alves' niece, a drug informant for the KPD. Both are serving life sentences.

Then, in 1997, a female KPD officer, Lisa Fisher, resigned because of what she termed "a hostile work environment." In a lawsuit she filed the following year, she asserted that her supervisor in the Hanalei Substation, Sgt. Cecil Baliaris, had repeatedly made suggestive comments about her body and about his genitals, leading other male officers to do the same. Ultimately, Fisher alleged that Officer Michael Kiyabu grabbed her breasts in front of other officers.

When she filed a sexual harassment complaint with Freitas, she was taken off the road and given a desk job. The charges never were investigated, her lawsuit claims. Last year, Kauai County paid $425,000 to settle the case, the highest in county history. Fisher's Kauai-born Honolulu lawyer Richard Wilson said: "As far as I know, no one ever was disciplined in this case."

A lack of oversight that permits questionable racial and gender attitudes is compounded, Wilson asserted, by Kauai's detachment from the rest of Hawaii. "Kauai is 560 square miles of island located 100 miles from any outside authority," he said. "Kauai is very much the 'Separate Kingdom' it prides itself on having been historically, and its police force is the best example."

Mayor Maryanne Kusaka declined to be interviewed on these issues. Gary Hooser, chairman of the Kauai County Council's Public Safety Committee, said he has had discussions with the county personnel director about racism, sexism, nepotism and political favoritism in county hiring practices but has not specifically addressed the KPD.

Dede Wilhelm, chairwoman of the Kauai Police Commission, said: "There's nothing wrong with the racial mix. We've got a great bunch of cops." She goes to high schools to talk up a police career for young women, she said, "but the wahine don't sign up. It's not glamorous enough." As for the KPD having only two Chinese-American officers, she said, "The Chinese are smart. They go study medicine."

Wilhelm said a state law that prohibits police departments from recruiting on the mainland should be abolished because she has been approached by officers who would like to move to Kauai. "We're all Americans and Americans should be free to move and work wherever they want to," she said.

A recent incident underscores a widely held belief among locals and newcomers alike that, as Wilson put it: "As long as you're hooked up with the cops, you can do anything you want because there is no oversight of the KPD."

Elaine Schaefer, a white mainland transplant and former police sergeant in Oakland, Calif., was riding her horse on a north shore trail last May when three pitbulls attacked the horse. The woman was thrown and the horse plunged over a cliff and died.

A witness saw a local man carrying a rifle who had been hunting with the dogs. As the man ran past her, he said he wasn't going to take the blame for the attack. She provided an artist a description that was turned into a sketch published in The Garden Island newspaper. The KPD received numerous telephone calls, all naming the same individual. But the police didn't arrange for a lineup for the witness. Instead of reckless endangerment or criminal property damage, the police wrote it up as a leash law violation, a petty misdemeanor.

The detective assigned to the case, Lt. Glenn Morita, took three months to locate a driver's license picture of the suspect. The sole witness, who had since moved to the mainland for health reasons, was unable to identify the man's picture in a photo lineup she was sent in the mail. In September, Morita told the victim he had done all he could do. That same month, Morita was named "Officer of the Month" by the police commission.

A Kauai resident with an insider's view of the KPD whose Asian-American family has lived on Kauai for several generations said: "The minute the sketch of the suspect appeared in the newspaper, everyone on the north shore knew exactly who it was, but he hasn't been arrested and probably never will be. He's a local guy with very close ties to the Kauai Police Department. The victim is a haole from the mainland. That's how it is with the KPD. That's how it is on Kauai."

Responsibility for oversight of the KPD rests with the Kauai Police Commission, a group of seven citizens appointed by the mayor that meets monthly. The commission hires the police chief but the chief can be fired only for wrongdoing, which is not defined in the county charter. The largely ceremonial commission surprised many on Kauai when it voted on Aug. 10 to investigate Freitas.

The suspension letter that Freitas was given by Mayor Kusaka said he was being investigated for allegedly "hindering prosecution" of Officer Nelson Gabriel, who was indicted in 1999 on charges that he had sexually molested his stepdaughter. The letter also said he was accused of "improperly handling" another complaint against Nelson for allegedly sexually harassing a police dispatcher.

Gabriel went on trial in September in the molestation case but there was no indication that the prosecution had been hindered. His attorney presented a long history of Gabriels' stepdaughter making serious accusations against people involving events that never took place. The trial was before a judge rather than a jury and no verdict has been announced.

An interesting moment in the trial came when KPD detectives entered the courtroom and seated themselves behind Gabriel. It was an open but unspoken statement of support for both Gabriel and Freitas.

The criminal charges filed against Gabriel were based on a KPD investigation that took place under Freitas' supervision before he was suspended. Freitas said he is puzzled by the accusation he mishandled the case.

All of this begs the question of whether someone is searching for reasons for the commission to fire Freitas so that he can be replaced by one of the senior department insiders before Mayor Kusaka, who appointed all the commissioners, leaves office a little more than a year from now.

Shortly after Freitas was suspended, Acting Chief Willie Ihu promoted three sergeants to lieutenant, all evidently qualified -- and all of them male and none of them white. Ihu has given his three highest-ranking subordinates new titles, apparently without the approval of the police commission, the mayor or the county council. The former inspectors, including Morris, who filed the complaint against Freitas, are now called "assistant chiefs."

source:
 

The Circuit Court jury deliberated 12 hours over two days before convicting Hashimoto, 32, on five of the eight counts against him, including sexual assault and unlawful imprisonment.

Hashimoto, a four-year veteran of the force, was accused of having sex with the girl on July 26, 1993, after responding to a 1 a.m. call at her mother's home and again on Sept. 6, 1993, after giving the girl a ride home.

County of Kauai

A letter from the Kauai Police Commission:

Despite the proof I have compiled on these pages, despite Officer Asuncion’s statement of sticking his finger into my chest and swearing at me at a school function, the commission has concluded that no laws were broken by Officer Gilbert V. Asuncion.
 

Did they listen to the audio files? Did they review the police reports?
 

The confidential stamp does little to hide and suppress and oppress the truth.. 

Read more news:
Links to more news and coverage of Kauai Police Department

http://kauai.net/monitor/archives/04-01-2005_04-30-2005.html

http://starbulletin.com/2006/01/31/news/story09.html

http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news/6639633/detail.html

http://garyhooser.livejournal.com/2533.html

http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news/6639633/detail.html

http://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2006/02/08/news/news02.txt

http://garyhooser.livejournal.com/2200.html

http://www.cnn.com/US/9708/28/police.brutality/