Shooting of dog proves case, HGEA says

The head of the sheriff’s deputies union suing the state for using a private security company at Honolulu Airport is using Tuesday’s shooting of a family dog as an opportunity to blast efforts to outsource traditional law enforcement duties.

“If the state’s primary argument is they’re looking to reduce costs and save money, my response would be, ‘Yes. You get what you pay for,” said Randy Perreira, executive director of the Hawaii Government Employees Association, which represents state sheriff’s deputies, who operate out of a substation at the airport. “There are no assurances, as far as we’re concerned, that the (privatized) workforce is properly equipped and properly trained.”

On Tuesday, an unidentified officer with Securitas Security Serv­ices USA shot a 2-year-old pit-bull mix named Kai‘ele in the forehead after the officer told the owners to remove the dog from a public outdoor area.

A high-ranking sheriff’s deputy based at the airport told state Sen. Will Espero that the Securitas officer is under investigation for second-degree reckless endangering and was previously fired as a civilian police officer for the Army, Espero said.

Citing an investigation of Tuesday’s shooting, Securitas, the Department of Public Safety, which oversees the sheriff’s department, and the state Department of Transportation, which oversees airport operations, have all declined to comment.

The investigation is now being handled by the state Attorney General’s Office, according to attorney general spokesman Joshua Wisch, who declined further comment.

Last year HGEA sued the state in Circuit Court, alleging that expanding Securitas’ duties at the airport to include armed officers with law enforcement powers is unconstitutional.

In a statement following the lawsuit, Perreira said at the time:

“Hawaii sheriffs are professionally trained officers who are best qualified to perform law enforcement duties at our state’s international port of entry.”

On Friday, Perreira told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that unarmed Securitas “Airport Security” employees used to be limited to duties that included guarding checkpoints, fences and secure entries and keeping traffic moving, Perreira said.

Now some of the Securitas officers carry weapons and wear dark blue uniforms with badges similar to the ones worn by Honolulu police officers, Perreira said.

The armed Securitas officers make arrests at the airport, pull over vehicles and are considered the airport’s first responders in everything from medical emergencies to crimes, he said.

They answer to the DOT’s Airports Division, not to any law enforcement agency, Perreira said.

“We’ve steadily expressed our concern about how Securitas’ scope has escalated,” he said.

The lawsuit continues to proceed in Circuit Court, but no hearing date has been scheduled, Perreira said.

Instead of increasing efficiencies at the airport, having both sheriff’s deputies and an armed security company actually creates duplication because deputies conduct separate investigations of Securitas cases, Perreira said.

Deputies then end up transporting and booking those arrested by Securitas, which has no holding cell, Perreira said.

“If there’s an incident that occurs — for example, the dog — Securitas is called first,” Perreira said. But, “sheriff’s deputies would do a separate investigation because it’s the state that’s pressing charges.”

Securitas has employees on Oahu, Maui and Kauai and in Hilo and Kona, according to the company’s website.

But its officers at Honolulu Airport cause the most concern for the sheriff’s deputies union because of the size of the airport and number of people who flow in and out, Perreira said.

Tuesday’s shooting, he said, “reinforces our concern about who is charged with the law enforcement responsibility at Honolulu International Airport.”