Sixty-one Honolulu police officers were disciplined for breaking the law or violating department policies in connection with incidents from 2017 through 2021, according to an annual report submitted this week to the Legislature.

Twenty-one of the offenses were criminal in nature, according to the report, including domestic abuse, intoxicated driving, assault, theft, records tampering and drug offenses.

Interim Honolulu Police Chief Rade Vanic told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Thursday that the Honolulu Police Department hopes the report promotes the public’s trust in the department. If officers break the law or engage in misconduct, they will be held accountable for their actions, said Vanic.

“It’s unfortunate, but we do have a small number of officers who make bad choices,” said Vanic. “In these cases the incidents are investigated, and the appropriate disciplinary action is taken. We hope that the public does not judge all officers based on the actions of a few.”

At least two cases resulted in FBI investigations. While the report includes brief descriptions of the actions that prompted discipline, it does not give an account of outcomes of investigations. Officers are named only if they were terminated or suspended. The status of each case is conveyed with an “F” for final, “P” for grievance pending or “A” for arbitration.

Among the officers identified was Jason Castro, who had been slated for termination in connection with dating a subordinate and later threatening to fire that individual unless the relationship continued. Castro resigned before termination. In another case an unnamed officer was fired for driving drunk and hitting another car while using his mobile device. That case is pending a grievance proceeding.

Since 2020, state law has required police departments to release the names of officers who have been either suspended or fired following the conclusion of grievance and arbitration processes and after the discipline has been finalized.

Now the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers would like to see changes to the report to make it easier for the public to understand while highlighting that the vast majority of the department’s more than 1,800 officers are not contending with misbehavior issues.

SHOPO President Robert Cavaco told the Star-Advertiser, “The annual HPD disciplinary report covers the last 5 years going back to 2017 and can be confusing for the public to decipher. It appears that the incidents listed were from a single year and that is simply not true, they cover a 5-year period. We believe the report should be separated by year to provide the public a more accurate picture.”

Cavaco added, “Many of the incidents are still pending adjudication and yet they are included as part of one long list and this also adds to confusion. A lack of context also leads to confusion. We think it is important to disclose the outcome of finalized arbitration and clearly show pending grievances. We support transparency but we also want reports such as this to be accurate and context provided to the public.”

The Hawaii Supreme Court ruled in September that the public may see the disciplinary records of police officers when they are terminated or suspended for wrongdoing.

The ruling came after the court considered a lawsuit by the police union that challenged a Circuit Court decision to release the arbitration records of Darren Cachola, a Honolulu Police Department sergeant who was seen in a 2014 viral video scrapping with his girlfriend in a restaurant.