A major shakeup of the top brass of the Kauai Police Department is under way, apparently stemming from an employee complaint, according to a Kauai County news release issued Wednesday.

Kauai Police Chief Darryl Perry was placed on leave Wednesday morning, according to a news release emailed at 6:31 p.m.

Two assistant chiefs — Roy Asher and Ale Quibilan — were placed on leave effective Tuesday. They were ordered to turn in their equipment, county spokeswoman Sarah Blane said.

Deputy Police Chief Michael Contrades has automatically stepped in as acting chief. Contrades named Assistant Chief Mark Begley as acting deputy chief.

"This leadership structure will be in place until the investigation of an employee complaint has been concluded," Contrades said in the news release. "No further information will be released, as it is a personnel matter."

Blane said she was not told who placed Perry on leave.

The county Corporation Counsel’s Office has advised all county personnel not to comment.

Quibilan, a 29-year veteran, was promoted to assistant chief by Perry, Blane said. He has served as acting assistant chief since 2008.

Asher has served with the department for 24 years and was promoted to assistant chief by then acting Chief Clayton Arinaga, Blane said. 

Capt. Sherwin Perez is serving as acting assistant chief of the Investigative Services Bureau, in place of Asher. Lt. Jon Takamura is acting assistant chief of the Patrol Services Bureau, in place of Quibilan.

Perry, a former major with the Honolulu Police Department, was born and raised on Kauai, and became a police officer on the Garden Island before moving to Honolulu. He was the runner-up candidate when K.C. Lum was selected as chief in 2004.

He became chief in 2007, succeeding Lum, who retired in 2006, just days before the Kauai County Council met to rescind his contract. Lum faced allegations of ethics violations and had filed a civil rights complaint against a police commissioner over a racial slur.

In 2003, Chief George Freitas, after battling to save his job for more than two years, announced he would retire, but stopped short of saying he was forced out by Mayor Bryan Baptiste.

Freitas was investigated by the Police Commission for hindering prosecution in a case involving a fellow officer. He was cleared of the charges, but eventually was sued by his secretary for wrongful termination. That case was settled in 2007.

Freitas’ predecessor was Calvin Fujita, who resigned in February 1995 after he was the subject of a lawsuit that accused him of favoring certain ethnic groups at the expense of others. The case was dismissed in 2000.