When the Hawaii County Police Commission meets Friday, the agenda includes an unofficial complaint alleging the department’s officers automatically arrest and charge motorists with driving under the influence of intoxicants when drug paraphernalia is found.
The commission received a letter dated April 26 from County Auditor Tyler Benner that said the allegation was made on one of its “waste, fraud and abuse (whistleblower) hotlines.”
Benner told commissioners in his letter that his office “received a notification indicating (HPD) may be engaging in a questionable field practice.”
“Specifically, the assertion was made that the department has adopted a procedural stance wherein individuals found with drug paraphernalia are charged with driving under the influence (DUI).”
Benner’s letter said his office “has not independently corroborated the allegation.”
The auditor said his office reviewed the department’s General Orders on the hawaiipolice.com website, including General Order 606 regarding the department’s arrest policy, “but did not find a policy addressing driving under the influence procedures.”
“Some municipalities do possess general orders addressing DUI procedures,” Benner wrote, and included a link to the Sacramento, Calif., police department website and its General Order 537.01, the policy pertaining to DUI arrests.
Benner’s letter acknowledged the complaint, as made, doesn’t fall into the auditor’s purview as “waste, fraud or abuse,” but added “we perceive the allegation, if substantiated, as concerning.”
The letter quoted the Hawaii County Charter’s section entrusting the Police Commission with the responsibility to “review the department’s operations as deemed necessary, for the purpose of recommending improvements to the police chief and managing director.”
Benner on Wednesday told the Tribune-Herald he couldn’t say whether the allegation came from a police officer, a defense attorney or a citizen, saying that due to the promised confidentiality of the hotline and the tight-knit nature of the community, his office takes “great care to protect the identity” of those who call the hotline.
He also said he didn’t contact the department or police chief about the allegation prior to notifying the commission.
“This doesn’t really fit the definition of fraud, waste and abuse, but this referral to the Police Commission is an opportunity to open it to dialogue,” Benner said.
Police Chief Ben Moszkowicz said he “first learned of the allegation when the meeting agenda was publicized.”
“We have not been able to substantiate it. In fact, quite to the contrary,” Moszkowicz said. “We’ve been looking since last Friday for any prior incidents in recent history to substantiate that, but we can’t find any cases.”
The chief categorically denied the allegation that possession of drug paraphernalia will, as a matter of formal or informal policy, result in a DUI arrest or charge for a driver pulled over in a traffic stop or sobriety checkpoint.
“We look at all kinds of things,” he said. “We look at the demeanor of the driver. We look at whether they’re coordinated or not. If there’s an odor. … And it’s only after … the taking of a field sobriety test that the officer makes a decision whether or not to arrest. Now, if we find drug paraphernalia, that would be a … clue that there might be impairment and (further investigation) to be made. … And that’s just police work.
“But the idea there’s a policy that we arrest or detain someone and they have drugs or paraphernalia that there’s automatically going to be an arrest for DUI is completely ridiculous. That’s not how we do things.”
Moszkowicz said he held his monthly commanders’ meeting on Tuesday with patrol commanders of every district plus both East and West Hawaii Traffic Enforcement Unit commanders, and all participants, “to a man,” denied the complainant’s allegation.
Asked about a General Order spelling out procedure for DUI arrests, Moszkowicz replied, “We don’t have a public-facing policy, but we do have a written procedure.”
“It requires officers to develop probable cause that a driver is impaired before arresting them for DUI,” he said. “The simple possession of drugs or paraphernalia would not satisfy that requirement.”
“In addition, for all DUI cases, officers prepare written reports that detail their observations. All arrests also require a report that discusses circumstances that lead to the arrest.”
The Police Commission’s monthly meeting is 9 a.m. Friday in the County Council chambers at the County Building, 25 Aupuni St. in Hilo.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.