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According to the Honolulu Police Department’s annual report to the state Legislature, 22 police officers were disciplined in connection with 14 incidents last year, including covering up a cellblock hit and failing to report a barricade incident before the suspect was fatally shot.
The report is not required to include descriptions of the incidents that led to the policy violations, and law enforcement officials said formal requests for records must be made in every case to find out what details can be released to the public.
“The report is a step toward greater transparency on the part of the department,” Honolulu Police Commission Chairman Doug Chin told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in a statement. “The commission expects the chief and his leadership team to take allegations of misconduct by officers seriously and hold bad actors in the department responsible for their actions. Until recently, the law did not require county police departments to report officers’ discipline at this level of detail. Whether more detail should be required for each incident in the report is a matter for the legislature.
Four of the incidents reported in the report were reported to the Commission by the public. The commission upheld all or at least part of each of the four complaints and reported its findings to the Chief.
Officer Paul Carroll was suspended one day last year after he “failed to establish an interior perimeter and notify communications about the barricade incident. Forcible entry into the home despite the absence of urgent circumstances that required such action,” reads the report, which indicates the incident happened in 2021.
According to sources, Carroll allegedly found a suspect wanted in connection with a car accident in Patrol District 3, which includes Red Hill through Village Park and Waipahu.
The man is said to have fled when confronted by Carroll and barricaded himself in his apartment. The case began as an investigation into a motor vehicle collision, but became a threatening case after the suspect armed himself with a knife.
Carroll burst through the door. The man attacked him with the knife. Carroll shot him at point-blank range, killing him. Carroll has a complaint pending in the case.
The report includes all active police discipline cases that are either in the appeal or arbitration process, as well as cases decided between January 1 and December 31, 2022.
In 2021, 27 officers were fined for 22 incidents, and in 2020, 55 officers were fined for 42 incidents. There are about 2,000 officers in the force, meaning the 22 officers disciplined last year make up about 1% of the force.
“COVID has played a very big part in the decline. There was a decrease in officers’ interactions with the public, which naturally led to a lower number of complaints,” Assistant Police Commissioner Rade K. Vanic said when presenting the report to the Honolulu Police Commission on Wednesday.
Vanic noted that two actions before the state legislature at this session would keep the names of the disciplined officers out of the report until the appeal or arbitration process is resolved and the case is closed.
State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers President Robert Cavaco told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that the union supports “a fair and transparent process that holds police officers to the high standards that our colleagues and the community that we serve.” serve, expect from them”.
“The number of officers in the report is a small fraction of the nearly 2,000 officers who work every day to protect our island. It’s also important to note that many of the cases detailed in the report have not been decided through our grievance process, and some of them date back to 2017,” noted Cavaco. “Therefore, judgment should be reserved for both the officer and the discipline proposed by the department. We understand the importance of continuing to inspire trust in the law enforcement profession by supporting transparency and accountability.”
HPD is required by law to report the number of officers who have been suspended or fired for the following categories: malicious use of force, prisoner abuse, use of drugs and narcotics, and cowardice.
In 2022, eight officers were suspended or fired over two separate incidents. The same officer can appear in more than one category. These eight officers accounted for three counts of malicious use of force and three counts of detainee ill-treatment.
Five of them were suspended for ill-treating a prisoner.
Warren Rohr “failed to ensure that subordinates received proper instructions or guidance to respond appropriately to an inmate’s behavior, and failed to ensure that subordinates were properly supervised when entering the inmate’s holding cell with the intention of stripping the inmate’s clothing to take away”. with an incident in the main police cell block.
Rohr is currently in arbitration for a 20-day suspension he received from the department.
Cole Dante is facing an inquest for second-degree assault and is mourning his 10-day suspension after allegedly using “unreasonable force by grabbing a detainee and forcing him onto a bench, despite the detainee initially offering no resistance or reasonable effort.” had the opportunity to follow instructions. He is said to have again used undue force “while helping to hold the detainee in order to strip the detainee of his clothing without explanation”. Dante also allegedly failed to intervene and “take appropriate action after seeing the detainee being subjected to undue force by other officers,” the report said.
Sean Kim resigned before receiving his 10-day suspension for violating Dante’s policy and was also investigated for second-degree assault.
“The initiation of criminal proceedings does not mean that the case was admitted to prosecution or that it was a determining factor in the disciplinary action taken against the officer,” reads a disclaimer at the end of each set of entries in the 17-page report.
Corey Morgan mourns his sacking after he allegedly used excessive and/or inappropriate force when he “shoved a handcuffed detainee headfirst into a shelf and slapped him in the face for no reason”.
The report accused Morgan of slapping the detainee’s face while the detainee was handcuffed, causing “the detainee to suffer bodily harm.” Morgan allegedly submitted an incomplete report when he failed to document the use of force and/or failed to submit the appropriate form and was untrue and/or falsified his submitted report when he “knowingly provided a false statement as to how the detainee was injured “.
Morgan was also allegedly unprofessional and/or acting inappropriately in directing obscenity at those arrested. He is being investigated for second-degree assault.
Matthew Ogoshi regrets his resignation because he tried to cover up the alleged attack and failed to stop it.
Honolulu Police Commissioner Ann Botticelli asked Chief Arthur “Joe” Logan and Vanic about the grievance and disciplinary process in relation to the firing of five Memphis, Tennessee police officers and the filing of murder charges weeks after evidence surfaced that they were 29 years old were -old Tire Nichols after he died.
“How come they can act so quickly in Memphis but our process is taking so long?” she asked during Wednesday’s commission meeting.
Logan explained that he needed to understand the Memphis Police Department’s contractual relationship with their officers. The collective agreement that HPD maintains with SHOPO provides for the complaints and arbitration procedure for disciplinary measures.
HPD can immediately take an officer off the street, suspend their police powers and place them in an administrative role while an administrative and/or criminal investigation is ongoing.
“That’s what the contract says today,” Logan replied to Botticelli’s question. “We are here today with the situation that we have. Can we have a look? I’m sure that’s a discussion we can have. I think it’s worth taking a look and discussing with SHOPO.”