HPD had warned state about fired officer

The Honolulu Police Department recommended that the state not hire an officer who had been fired by the police force in 2012, but the Department of Land and Natural Resources did so anyway, according to information released Wednesday in a sexual assault case.

Ethan Ferguson, 39, of Hilo was arrested last week and charged with multiple criminal counts for allegedly sexually assaulting a female minor while on the job Jan. 1 at a Hawaii island beach park.

Ferguson, who spent 12 years with HPD, had been fired from the police force in February 2012 for transporting a juvenile female runaway without a supervisor’s authorization and falsifying records, according to police documents.

He was hired in June 2013 by DLNR to work as an officer for its Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement.

Before that hire, the Department of Human Resources Development, which does initial applicant screenings for state agencies, contacted HPD in April 2013 to do a background check on Ferguson.

In response to that inquiry, the police disclosed that he had been discharged, and “we did not recommend him for hire,” according to an email that Marie McCauley, HPD’s deputy chief of field operations, sent to Sen. Will Espero on Wednesday.

Espero, the Senate vice president, has been raising questions about DLNR’s hiring practices in the wake of Ferguson’s arrest.

McCauley told Espero that HPD provided contact information to the human resources agency in case anyone had further questions about the applicant. “To the best of my knowledge, no one ever contacted us for more information,” she wrote. “We believed at that time that he had not been hired based on the information we had provided.”

James Nishimoto, director of the Department of Human Resources Development, said in an email to Espero that HPD had confirmed that Ferguson was terminated, but that “details regarding the termination were not provided.”

Nishimoto also said that Ferguson, who was not named in the email, disclosed that he had been terminated from the police force.

After getting the HPD information, the state did other reference checks, and they indicated the applicant’s work performance was satisfactory, according to Nishimoto’s email.

Ferguson and other applicants subsequently were referred to DLNR for interviews and assessment, Nishimoto added.

Espero (D, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point) told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that DLNR still must explain why it hired Ferguson despite the police department’s negative assessment.

“That’s the $1,000 question at the moment,” the senator said.

A DLNR spokeswoman declined to answer questions, noting its ongoing investigation into the case. But the department issued a statement from Suzanne Case, the director, who said the agency “expects all our officers and staff to operate with the highest integrity. Anything less is simply unacceptable, as well as unfair to the public and to DLNR.”

Case added that the division that hired Ferguson carefully reviews criminal records and all information provided on applicants prior to making any hires.

“While we cannot comment on ongoing investigations, we are taking a look at all aspects of our hiring processes, particularly for law enforcement positions, to identify areas where heightened scrutiny can be added to ensure we have the best candidates possible for available positions,” Case said in her statement.

As a result of the Ferguson case, Nishimoto’s agency has revised its assessment procedures for law enforcement applicants, including doubling the screening, asking for more details in reference checks and sharing more background information with the hiring departments consistent with applicable laws and policies, according to his email.

In addition, the hiring departments are changing their procedures, including the interview and follow-up process, and will be doing additional reference checks, Nishimoto said.

He told Espero that his agency “shares your concern that our law enforcement applicant screening, selection protocols and practices must help to ensure the hiring of staff suitable to serve and protect our families.”

The victim in the sex assault case told police that a DLNR officer in uniform approached her at the beach park and assaulted her.

Ferguson, who is out on bail and on paid leave from DLNR, was charged with five counts of sexual assault.

He is scheduled to make his next court appearance on Hawaii island on Feb. 2.