Police shouldn’t drink and carry

Well past midnight at a neighborhood bar, an off-duty Honolulu police officer’s gun goes off, sending a bullet into a female worker’s abdomen. The recent incident raises concerns about public safety — plus level of care in the handling of a dangerous weapon — and makes a strong case for a zero-tolerance policy forbidding police officers, even off duty, from carrying weapons if they consume any alcohol.

Drinking and handling weapons don’t mix, and disallowing that potentially lethal combination would be the right thing to do.

Sgt. Anson Kimura, a 25-year officer assigned to downtown/Chinatown, was booked April 5 on suspicion of second-degree assault; he was released pending further investigation, and remains on desk duty with restricted police powers. By all accounts, the 2 a.m. April 3 shooting at King’s Sports Bar was an accident; there was no argument or struggle, and Kimura is friends with the victim.

Police are continuing to investigate the circumstances of the shooting, including whether or how much Kimura had been drinking. In a news conference the day of the shooting, deputy Police Chief Dave Kajihiro said HPD policy allows police officers to carry their firearms when off duty, but they are not supposed to do so while under the influence of alcohol.

What was unsaid and left vague, though: that the decision to pack a loaded firearm, and how much alcohol equals intoxication, is at the discretion of the off-duty officer heading out. And that’s not safeguard enough.

So it’s wholly encouraging that on Monday, HPD Chief Louis Kealoha told us: "We are reviewing the policy and considering prohibiting carrying a firearm while drinking any amount of alcohol. The policy would have an exception for undercover officers."

According to the National Rifle Association’s rules of safe gun handling: "Alcohol, as well as any other substance likely to impair normal mental or physical bodily functions, must not be used before or while handling or shooting guns."

Such cogent, sober reasoning should be heeded. HPD should toughen its policy to forbid off-duty officers from carrying firearms when consuming any intoxicating liquor or drugs. That’s the right policy — one, in fact, that’s already used by the state Department of Public Safety.

When the Legislature tried to impose that level of stringency on state and county law enforcement officers last year via Senate Bill 2590, it was a step in the right direction. But the bill failed, despite support from the departments of Public Safety and of Land and Natural Resources; it was opposed then by the police departments and the police union.

This year, legislators are considering House Bill 888, which would make it illegal to possess and discharge a loaded firearm while intoxicated; violators would face up to a year in jail and/or a $1,000 maximum fine. The bill is headed for Senate-House conference committee; if passed with differences resolved, such a law could be a deterrent for careless behavior while drinking alcohol, for off-duty police and others alike.

But really, the ideal, stronger policy is a preventative one that keeps firearms out of the hands of liquored officers from the start. Impaired judgment and physical response from alcohol is real, but may be unrealized until it brings devastating consequences. In addition to a stricter policy: Renewed education and emphasis on gun safety for law enforcers, overall, would be timely.

HPD, with the Kimura case fresh on its mind, needs to tighten its policy on off-duty drinking and weapons. Alcohol and a loaded firearm do not mix. Take guns out of that equation, out of a drinking officer’s hands, and public safety is enhanced for all.