Mayor Kirk Caldwell on Friday defended his comments suggesting the Honolulu Police Department, the city and Oahu residents “move on” following Thursday’s convictions of former Police Chief Louis Kealoha, his wife and former Deputy Prosecutor Katherine Kealoha and two other police officers on federal conspiracy and corruption charges.
Caldwell’s reaction to the guilty verdicts was criticized by Honolulu Star-Advertiser columnist Lee Cataluna and others who took it to mean he didn’t see a need for further discussion and scrutiny of the institutions involved in the case that brought down two top-ranking law enforcement officials during his watch.
Caldwell, speaking to reporters at the U.S. Conference of Mayors annual meeting he is hosting in Honolulu, said he was trying to make the point that the city now has a police chief and Police Commission members who operate with independence and integrity.
“I think we now move on, that we focus on what needs to be done to make our city even safer,” he said.
“So, that’s my position and I think it’s realistic. I’m not one to look back … and I don’t like to dwell on things. I think if there’s problems, they’re addressed, fixed and there are always more problems, so we tackle those and move forward.”
In a related development, Caldwell spokesman Andrew Pereira said Friday the city has begun the process of taking back a controversial $250,000 payment the Police Commission gave to Kealoha as part of his “retirement agreement.” The agreement called for the police chief to return the money if convicted of a felony.
Pereira said he’s not sure whether the city would be allowed to go after Kealoha’s retirement benefits from his 33 years with HPD.
In contrast to Caldwell’s remarks Thursday, Police Commission Chairwoman Loretta Sheehan had told the Star-Advertiser “we should be talking about what happened with Chief Kealoha and what happened in the (Criminal Intelligence Unit) and what happened with this small band of individuals for a long, long time.”
“This is not something we should try to move away from quickly,” she said. “We should be talking about it, examining it and figuring out ways to make sure that this never happens again.”
Part of that responsibility lies with the commission, Sheehan said.
The mayor noted Friday that all seven members of the current commission are his appointees.
“It’s not members like the old days,” Caldwell said. “These are independent commissioners that speak their mind, and they speak a lot. And they disagree with each other. It’s a commission I think reflects the public and what the public wants: a strong, independent commission.”
His only instruction to each when he met them was, “Just do your job, however it needs to be done.”
The commission appointed longtime HPD Maj. Susan Ballard as chief in November 2017. She is the first woman appointed to the post.
“And I saw almost overnight when she came on board, the feeling of the department changed, the look in the men and women of the Honolulu Police Department changed (positively),” the mayor said. “She’s someone that’s completely transparent. Whenever there’s a shooting or whatever it is … she holds a news conference and answers the questions, the hard questions.”
As for the Kealohas, a jury deliberated, “and now punishment will be meted out to those who were found guilty,” Caldwell said.
Asked whether the Police Commission had done enough to try to address problems before Louis Kealoha’s indictment, the mayor said that was a question for the commissioners who were serving at the time.
Caldwell said the commission was restricted from what it could do until an amendment to the City Charter in 2016 broadened its powers.
