A Honolulu Police Department major accused of intimidating and harassing subordinates denies violating department policies, countering that his accusers have weaponized HPD’s internal complaint process to avoid taking responsibility for casework because he flagged overtime abuse and an array of standard of conduct violations.

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser obtained written responses that were given to HPD’s Professional Standards Office and city Equal Opportunity Office in the investigation of complaints against Major Stephen Gerona, who led HPD’s District 3 operations and its Criminal Investigation Division. The formal replies show the complaints were filed after Gerona disciplined officers for violations of HPD policies, substandard work or behavior that led to criminal and administrative investigations.

Gerona is facing multiple allegations that he employed an aggressive and discriminatory leadership style and created a hostile work environment. On Oct. 3 interim Chief Rade Vanic removed Gerona from leading the Criminal Investigation Division, and Gerona was transferred to the Legislative Liaison Office, a two-person office responsible for prioritizing appropriations and managing HPD’s work with county, state and federal lawmakers.

Officers have accused him of being retaliatory when he assigned them new roles, claiming he changed their work assignments, used vulgar language to describe their work habits and maligned their character in emails regarding their overtime practices.

Both Gerona and Vanic declined the Star-Advertiser’s request for comment, citing pending litigation.

However, in the written responses to Professional Standards Office detectives and Equal Opportunity Office investigators, Gerona provided details on how transfers, discipline or divisional counseling were handled through the chain of command, which would have limited interactions with his accusers. Many of the officers accusing Gerona of wrongdoing have not met or spoken with him in person or received any direct communication from him, he said.

Complaints against Gerona, a 38-year-veteran of the department, stem from assignments he had prior to leading CID, according to his written responses in the internal investigation.

Gerona took over as commander of HPD’s District 3, the area from Red Hill to Village Park and Waipahu, in March 2020. Three months later he was named commander for the major-events division. One of his team’s duties was to prepare a daily report, for the previous 24-hour period, of the names, locations, hours worked and signed overtime cards of every HPD officer who worked COVID-19 enforcement.

The records were kept to help justify the use of federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act funds, according to documents reviewed by the Star-Advertiser.

On Dec. 4 a complaint was filed against Gerona alleging he “retaliated” against a male lieutenant who had previously accused Gerona and a captain of making remarks of a “sexual nature” in reference to him. In a written response to questions from a Professional Standards Office detective, Gerona wrote that he was not party to any complaints filed by the lieutenant.

The detective asked whether Gerona had retaliated against the lieutenant by listing him with a group of officers accused of overtime abuse. Gerona responded that the lieutenant was “included in the investigation because he is directly involved in the incident and I am a material witness in the matter.”

The investigator then asked whether Gerona had retaliated by placing the lieutenant on restriction of police authority and leaking his name to the media. Gerona denied the allegation and told the investigator he did not report the lieutenant for overtime abuse, he reported him for fraud for receiving COVID-19 overtime pay for work that was not performed, according to the official written response to the allegations.

On Nov. 19, 2020, Gerona said he checked the daily COVID-19 overtime report and found the time cards of the officers submitted as if they worked until midnight. Gerona reported the incident to the regional patrol bureau chief and provided a witness statement. The criminal investigation was submitted to the state Department of the Attorney General, which declined to charge the officers.

The Professional Standards Office internal investigation into the fraud allegations is ongoing, according to Michelle Yu, HPD spokeswoman.

In another complaint against Gerona, filed on June 15, 2020, a lieutenant alleged discrimination and intimidation the day after Gerona transferred the lieutenant into a different role.

Gerona denied the allegations and wrote that only three of the five lieutenant positions in District 3 were filled at the time and that the lieutenant who was transferred was earning 25-1/2 overtime hours a week, or more than $100,000 a year in overtime alone. Implying overtime abuse was the reason for the transfer, Gerona wrote that the lieutenant’s combined salary was more than the chief, deputy chiefs and assistant chiefs earned in 2020.

Gerona also noted significant problems at the time he took over District 3, including overtime abuse, low enforcement statistics, beats not being patrolled, outstanding police reports missing for more than 70 days, and dress code and other violations of HPD policy.

The lieutenant filed a grievance with the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers that was eventually dismissed.

Another complaint was filed against Gerona the day after he moved another lieutenant out of a role that was creating overtime payments in excess of $100,000 a year. It alleged Gerona used profanity to describe him to his superiors.

Gerona also has been mentioned in connection with a March 2019 City Council-approved settlement of $555,000 to a former officer who alleged the department was passing unqualified police recruits to help with short staffing, but he was listed as a witness and not the defendant in the lawsuit.

Before being reassigned as complaints against him were investigated, Gerona had been commander of CID since January.

As the major in charge of CID, he allegedly “maligned the character” of a lieute­nant he transferred out of the domestic violence detail by “making false or misleading statements” in a June 17 email. Gerona said he reassigned the lieutenant and detectives on the domestic, family violence and child abuse details for a number of reasons, including not investigating and clearing cases at an acceptable rate.

In a written response, Gerona told investigators his email was sent to the lieutenant’s superiors. It detailed reasons for the lieutenant’s reassignment, including not reporting concerns of subordinates that could affect CID operations.

“The basis of this complaint demonstrates his inability to accept the personal responsibility and accountability for his deficiencies in the leadership and management of the work units, subordinate staff, work processes and operational outcomes assigned to him,” Gerona wrote.

An ongoing review of domestic violence and child abuse cases was begun in 2017 when a city audit focused on how cases are reported, classified and managed by HPD and the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney.

At the Star-Advertiser’s request, HPD prepared an internal workload analysis of the units involved for Jan. 1, 2017, to Dec. 31, 2020.

The Domestic Violence Detail received 5,560 assignments and cases during that time: About 24%, or 1,368, cases were sent to prosecutors; 1,290 cases were referred to the city Prosecutor’s Office Victim Witness Kokua program, which provides services to victims as cases make their way through the criminal justice system; and 58 cases were downgraded from felonies to misdemeanors. The remainder were administratively closed. The cases in the Kokua program are not part of the 1,368 sent to the prosecutor.

According to HPD, the Child Abuse Detail, typically staffed by three de­tectives, had 2,326 assignments and cases. During the period included in the analysis, just 115 cases (4%) were sent to prosecutors; 540 were referred to Victim Witness Kokua; and detectives downgraded six felony child abuse cases.

On Sept. 28 state Sen. Kurt Fevella called for state, county and federal investigations of Gerona’s conduct after reviewing a lawsuit from a female detective and two other complaints the city settled for more than $1.6 million.

Gerona is named in a lawsuit filed by Detective Maile Rego, who alleges Gerona and other CID colleagues blocked her appointment to a federal task force, badmouthed her, questioned her caseload and undercut her reputation with false claims that she was a “rogue” detective. The behavior started after she alleged officers mishandled a missing-baby case.

Gerona has been labeled a “terror” by his accusers.

However, current and former officers who worked with Gerona and spoke to the Star-Advertiser describe him as a by-the-book disciplinarian who seeks out internal violations, challenges lazy employees to do their job and mentors subordinates to achieve promotions. The Star-Advertiser is not identifying the officers because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

They, and Gerona, claim what is happening to him is the “weaponizing of complaints” by police officers who have been taken to task for not clearing cases or for allegedly violating HPD policies. Some accused officers have been filing complaints against their supervisors, which almost always leads to a transfer of the supervisor while the complaint is sorted out, they said.

That process can sometimes take a year or more.

A CID officer who is a manager said she reported officers for allegedly making false arrests and illegal searches, and they turned around and filed complaints against her that led to an investigation that resulted in no charges or discipline against anyone.

She said Gerona adheres so closely to the chain of command that any discipline or corrective action would filter down from the major to the captain to the lieutenant and then the subordinate.

“He does not terrorize people; he wants them to do their job,” she said. “Major Gerona doesn’t have a problem with women; he has a problem with people who don’t do their job,” said the officer, who has more than 20 years with the department. “He turned out to be my favorite supervisor in my … career. I say that because he actually expected people to do their job. I thought he was a good leader; he listened. He’s very much a chain-of-command person.”

Another officer called Gerona an “old school” supervisor who follows HPD policies to the letter, puts the needs of victims first and mentors subordinates to achieve promotions.

Gerona has a single item on his disciplinary record: a one-day suspension for “overbearing conduct” toward the public from his time patrolling Chinatown in 1988.

“He’s reasonable in what he asks for. If you ask anyone in CID, the workers, they have no problem with him. He’s straight to the point. He’s not the feel-good type of guy. He follows the rules. He’s black and white. You work or you’d better work, which is good. I think some of our officers need that,” said another current officer with more than 20 years of experience who worked for Gerona in CID. “He doesn’t ask you to be a Superman policeman; he asks you to do the minimum, and some people had a problem with that. We’ve had good majors, but he’s the first major who was actually addressing the lazy personnel.”

An officer who retired with 27 years of experience, and once worked a beat with Gerona, said the major might not “walk around with smiles on his face, but he’s a genuine, good man.”

“I never got any kind of feeling that he was abrasive. Steve was always the same. When it was time to laugh, he would laugh. When it was time to be serious, he was serious. He treats everybody the same. Yes, he’s not the most personable guy in the world, but if you go into his office and say you need some help, he will do anything he can for you.”