There was a short-lived sense of relief when the city’s Police Commission announced late last week that Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha has agreed to retire and that the details of a sendoff package are being worked out.
HPD’s acting chief had acknowledged that morale among the 2,000-officer force is low amid a growing corruption scandal that has so far resulted in one officer pleading guilty to federal conspiracy charges and four others, along with Kealoha, receiving FBI criminal investigation “target” letters.
It appears likely that the Honolulu Police Commission will soon be tasked with searching for a new HPD leader and taking a hard look at why a dark cloud that started taking shape over the department years ago is now just starting to lift. Or as Commissioner Loretta Sheehan told a news reporter after Kealoha’s announced exit: “When you reach a crisis point, every organization needs to ask itself how did we get here and how do we make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
The commission, which now has expanded authority to suspend or fire the city’s top cop, serves as the public voice — not as some sort of police booster club. When there’s buzz about misconduct involving HPD officers in leadership roles, the commission has a duty to investigate and take strong action to ensure public confidence in HPD. That did not happen in Kealoha’s case, which is tied to a messy family dispute involving Kealoha’s wife and her uncle Gerard Puana.
In spring 2013, in connection with a complex reverse mortgage deal, Puana and his mother filed a lawsuit against Katherine Kealoha, alleging she committed fraud and elder abuse. That June, the Kealohas reported that someone had stolen their mailbox and produced surveillance footage of the alleged theft.
Gerard Puana was later charged with destroying the mailbox, a federal crime. When the case went to trial in December 2014, a mistrial was declared after Chief Kealoha inappropriately revealed details about Puana’s criminal past.
First Assistant Federal Public Defender Alex Silvert asserted that Kealoha had deliberately prompted the mistrial and, maintaining that his client had been framed, called on the police commission to investigate alleged HPD misconduct.
Rather than a needed hands-on approach, however, the commission was too hands-off. Just months before the mistrial, it had voted to give Kealoha a second five-year term and rated his performance as “exceeds expectations.” The commission clearly stumbled in its handling of Kealoha’s spreading troubles and in deciding against pursuing its own investigation regarding Silvert’s accusations.
Last month, when the FBI informed Kealoha that he was the target of a criminal investigation, he placed himself on paid leave from his $190,408-per-year job. (Four other HPD officers were also placed on leave after receiving target letters.) The notices came on the heels of former HPD criminal intelligence unit technician Niall Silva pleading guilty to falsifying documents and altering evidence, lending support to the assertion that Puana had been framed for the mailbox theft.
Finally last week, the commission — under new leadership and with key new members — rightly took swift action to address the chief’s status in the aftermath of Silva’s plea agreement and the intensifying federal criminal probe.
Since Kealoha’s pending end to his 33-year career at HPD is slated as a retirement, he should get his pension and due benefits, but the commission should refrain from buyout paychecks through the end of his term in 2019.
Also, to further lift the cloud hanging over the police department and to help repair HPD’s tarnished reputation, the commission must insist on, and provide, more transparency in its dealings with the new chief.
