The Honolulu Police Department’s Professional Standards Office has received many complaints stemming from drunken driving arrests.
Hawaii News Now has been reporting on drivers who had zero alcohol detected in breath or blood tests, but were still taken to jail.
A handful of those drivers have filed complaints seeking internal investigations into the officers’ actions.
Among the complaints is that of local resident Ammon Fepuleai.
Hawaii News Now reports that body camera videos it obtained show Fepuleai being arrested in November 2023, even though the Breathalyzer showed a reading of 0.00.
Fepuleai filed his complaint shortly after the arrest.
The Major in the Professional Standards Office responded weeks later with a letter that said the investigation was complete and “upon a review of the facts available by the officers’ immediate command, they were not able to find sufficient evidence to sustain your complaint.”
Fepuleai believed PSO didn’t take his case seriously.
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Attorney and former HPD officer Jonathan Burge said PSO complaints are for policy violations.
“Basically, they’re going to look at all of the standards of conduct and see if the officer violated any of it,” Burge said. Investigators are not necessarily going to look at Fepuleai’s case to see if there was probable cause to stop Fepuleai, but rather to see if the officers followed HPD rules.
Burge said he was surprised the officer who transported Fepuleai did not get into trouble for turning off the body camera during the drive, which is in the policy.
“That’s a rule that if they didn’t follow, they should have some […] [consequences] for it,” Burge said.
