Police Commission cancels citizen panel to help pick new chief

The Honolulu Police Commission on Wednesday ditched its plan to use a citizen advisory panel to help pick a new police chief after receiving flak for its initial list of volunteers.

Instead, the seven-member commission now will likely do much of the work on its own with the help of a yet-to-be-chosen consultant.

Commissioners said they were frustrated that the public and the media appeared to be focused on who they were considering, as well as not considering, for what they dubbed a “citizen’s assessment panel” — rather than on the selection of the next police chief.

Thirteen Oahu residents had been nominated by commissioners at their meeting two weeks ago to serve on the panel. From the list, the commission was to pick five. The list included former Mayor Mufi Hannemann and former Police Chief Lee Donohue.

But the name that generated the most controversy was commission Chairman Max Sword’s selection of bounty hunter, bail bondswoman and reality TV personality Beth Chapman, the wife of Duane “Dog” Chapman.

Currently the president of the Professional Bail Agents of the United States of America, Beth Chapman has a criminal history. An arrest-record report generated by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation shows she was arrested 10 times between 1988 and 2002. The report shows Chapman, also known as Alice Elizabeth Smith among other aliases, also was found guilty of several crimes including assault, carrying a concealed weapon, obstruction of government operations and misdemeanor forgery and theft. Collectively, she was sentenced to two jail terms — of six months and 60 days — and paid four fines totalling $1,713.

Sword said after Wednesday’s decision that he had not known about Chapman’s criminal record until informed by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Sword declined to say if he would have nominated Chapman had he known about her arrest record.

Sword’s wife, Mona Wood-Sword, at one time represented both Chapmans as their publicist. When he first nominated Beth Chapman, Sword had said he was trying to “think out of the box,” reasoning that her background in the bail bonds business put her in constant contact with Honolulu police officers.

A person answering the phone Wednesday at Da Kine Bail Bonds, the Chapmans’ business office, said Beth Chapman was off-island and would not be available for comment for several days.

Chapman’s name was not mentioned during Wednesday’s commission meeting.

But Commissioner Steven Levinson said a number of people have voiced “consternation over one particular nomination.” Levinson said he believes that as a result of that nomination, “the Police Commission has become an object of some derision and ridicule … and I believe that is unhealthy and not good for the commission.”

Sword acknowledged afterward that his nomination of Chapman, and the public uproar that ensued, likely contributed to the decision to scrap the advisory panel.

During the meeting, however, commissioners said they were receiving negative feedback for failing to include advocates for groups that historically have had friction with HPD officers such as the homeless and certain ethnic groups.

Sword said no formal vote was needed to nix an advisory panel because there had not been a vote to constitute one.

“In the end, the panel selection has overshadowed the main objective, and that is choosing the right chief of police for the City and County of Honolulu,” Sword said.

The commission will work with its consultant to determine how best to proceed with the selection, he said. The commission hopes to have a consultant on board by the end of the month.

Levinson said he was particularly perturbed that some among the public and media misunderstood that the advisory panel was intended to whittle down the list of 30-plus applicants while the task of selecting the chief remained with the commission.

All the commission was trying to do was find five qualified people to assist it in screening candidates, Levinson said.

Commissioner Luella Costales said she tried to find candidates who could represent diverse views. Costales and commission Vice Chairwoman Cha Thompson said many qualified people they asked to be nominated for the panel declined.

“Actually, I had to twist some arms to get the candidates that I did,” Costales said.

Costales and others said they still want extensive community input during the selection process from diverse points of view.

Commissioner Loretta Sheehan said she wants the commission to actively seek public input. “I need to figure out what the metrics are to pick the very best chief of police that I can,” she said.

Sword noted that citizen advisory panels assisted in the selection of the two most recent chiefs, Louis Kealoha and Boisse Correa.

Nearly three dozen qualified applicants are seeking to be chief of the Honolulu Police Department following the retirement of Kealoha effective April 1. Kealoha retired early after being informed he was the target of a federal criminal investigation.

Sword said the selection process is about a month behind schedule, not because of the brouhaha over the now-aborted advisory panel, but because of bureaucratic delays in selecting a paid consultant to help guide the commission.

A new chief likely won’t be selected until late August or early September, he said.