HPD police major declines promotion amid controversy
STAR-ADVERTISER / SEPT. 2011
Honolulu Police Department Maj. Ryan Borges, shown here in 2011 when he was a captain, has rejected his apointment as assistant chief following weeks of controversy.
Honolulu Police Maj. Ryan Borges this morning rejected his appointment as assistant chief following weeks of controversy.
Chief Louis Kealoha, who had defended Borges’ appointment earlier this month, made the announcement after speaking with Borges.
“He has decided not to accept the upcoming promotion. He said that he does not want the recent controversy to continue to be a disruption and detract from the positive work that the department does.
“Although I still believe that Maj. Borges would make an excellent assistant chief, I respect and understand his choice.”
Kealoha said he is working to find a replacement.
Borges’ appointment came under fire by critics, including state Sen. Will Espero, because the officer was arrested in 1994 for domestic violence. Borges pleaded guilty to second-degree terroristic threatening and received probation.
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Kealoha had previously praised the veteran officer, saying Borges “has been honest and open about his past. We’ve all made mistakes in our lives, but what’s important is what we do afterwards.”
However, Espero said Borges’ promotion sends the wrong message about how the department views domestic violence.
Espero also was concerned about a 2014 case involving a temporary restraining order issued against Borges. Allegations of threats were brought by the former boyfriend of Borges’ daughter, which were dismissed in court, said Borges’ attorney for the case, Richard Wurdeman.
Borges came under further scrutiny this month after he sent a letter seeking character references from supporters. In the letter, Borges said he was under “spiritual attack” and referred to Espero as “the enemy.”
61 responses to “HPD police major declines promotion amid controversy”
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Many employees do mischievous deeds not thinking about their future career promotion.
mischievous?
Probably not the word I’d use to describe wife beating.
“He threatened his wife with a gun, I looked into it,” Cayetano said. “He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor.
Even worse.
OK, “naughty” then?
How about “criminal”?
I thought the dude was going to be ride out the storm until he wrote that stupid letter asking for support. The controversy was going down, it was out of the media, the “we’ve all made mistakes” excuse was working. Then he sends out the letter calling a Senator who is raising a legitimate concern “the enemy”. Kinda like throwing gasoline on a fire that was going out. Oh well….
If you read Borges’ letter, the context makes it clear that his use of the term “enemy” did not apply to Espero or any other person. It referred to Satan attacking him spiritually. Of course, I wouldn’t expect anyone in the media to get that.
I read Borges letter online and yes he was directly referring to Espero as “the enemy”. Couple disturbing things with this letter. If this HPD officer is so much into god, can he be objective if one or more of his officers that he leads is gay? Will he be able to protect the public and uphold the law INDEPENDENT of whether or not the public is “different” and goes against biblical teachings like the two gay women who got arrested by an HPD officer for hugging and kissing at Foodland? Maybe best if BOTH Borges and Kealoha retire so that Borges can further pursue his service to God and not waste anymore time in the less than noble and non-spiritual pursuit as a police officer. The letter pointing out Espero as “THE ENEMY” and his total dedication of his life to God is all the information needed by the public and administrators for Borges to retire and find another line of work other than a Honolulu police officer.
Chief Kealoha: How about promoting the person who is actually the best suited for this job, and not just one of your buddies? While they may not share the same view as you on many things, there are a number of worthy officers to choose from – even if they are in the “other faction” which is not in your inner circle.
Maybe there is none?
Maybe thats what he did!
You can’t soar if you surround yourself with pigeons, and that’s what Kealoha has done.
The easy way out, but I approve. My thoughts are on the judgment of his superiors to have nominated him. But, in this State judgment has never been a virtue.
Would like more information on why Borges was mad at his daughters ex boyfriend? Maybe the boyfriend did something bad to his daughter and in that case maybe Borges was justified in going after the ex boyfriend? Have to protect family.
Which is why we have laws, and officers of the law to enforce them. There are right ways and wrong ways of doing things. One would hope a police officer would know the difference.
Not necessarily. When they are above the law, what they think is right is wrong from a legal or moral pov.
Yup and rules change when you leave, you like anybody else. Works two ways.
Simple, eh, dial 911…..nine-one-one.
plus this article states “the charges were dismissed” in court. this is america, anybody can file a claim, the court determines if it is valid. In this case-not.
Boyfriend dismissed it, too much publicity.
Perhaps the next one has better character? time will tell.
Who should we thank? The politicians? Women against violence? The public? Or Mr. Borges who really did believe he was sorry? Who exactly promoted Borges? HPD executive staff? Kealoha himself? Did anyone in HPD protest this promotion was political suicide? Especially in the wake of videos of cops beating up the public citizens and a Chief who might not be one? I propose people OUTSIDE HPD lead the internal investigating, punishing, and promoting of their officers. There are a lot of good cops in HPD, but they alone cannot clean up the organization they dedicated their life to and love. We, the public, can do this. So let’s encourage the FBI, newspapers locally and in the mainland, politicians who don’t beg for SHOPO political support, woman who are angry at domestic abuse, and keep marching in pubic. Tulsi can help. So can the Mayor and the Governor. It’s working today.
Thank mainly Mr. Borges. Maybe he really is a changed man because he stepped down. The Force will eventually win. Go in the same direction and it will be with you. May the Force be with you.
Referring to Senator Espero as “the enemy” tells me a lot. Senator Espero is a hard-working, honest, upright individual who truly cares about, and works toward, the best outcomes.
If you read Borges’ letter, the context makes it clear that his use of the term “enemy” did not apply to Espero or any other person. It referred to Satan attacking him spiritually. Of course, I wouldn’t expect anyone in the media to get that.
There is a systemic failure in the HPD, beginning right at the TOP. Clean the hale, already!
Remember there some good officers and support people in the HPD building. They are unhappy what HPD turned into or always has been. Let’s help them. You can ante up the heat by complaining in the news media why the FBI is taking so long. Please don’t tell me it is because they want to maintain good relationships so they can solve crimes. In idiotic places like Thailand and the Philippines there is an ongoing public joke that if the police wants to catch criminals, they should arrest themselves. To be fair there have been some interesting news coming out of Pattaya Beach that a police brass paid the Pattaya Police station a surprise visit and was infuriated that the toilets were not working and the place stunk badly. Not sure whether he was referring to the smell or the management. Yesterday the Pattaya One online newspaper reported that a review slammed the same station because they had over 250 unsolved cases pending. If you know Thailand like all farangs and I do this sounds lie a small tremor before the big earthquake. Things seem to be changing there. In Bangkok about a month ago about 40 officers were rounded up and given urine tests. This is a totally about face turn from the cops jumping on tourists, pushing their hands into their pockets forcing them to open their passports and show their money just to see if they are carrying illegal drugs. This has been reported several times by terrified tourists in international news. Surprisingly and happily all 40 cops were clean. But Thailand being Thailand, was this story true? I do believe there are some truly honest cops in Thailand, but I wish they would stop committing suicide once they discovered the true nature of the organization they took an oath to dedicate their lives to.
The top is Police Commission which appoints the Chief.
The commission has proven itself impotent and a waste of space
The replacement will be a friend of Sen. Espero. He makes better judgements than the Police Chief and/or the Police Commission.
The police commission is toothless and does the bidding of the Chief who they are supposed to oversee and evaluate. Look at who is on the commission.
The City council seems also without much clout although they control the purse stings. Do yourself a favor and watch public access TV when HPD appears before the Council whether it be for budget purposes or for their input on laws the council is considering. It is very clear that the tail wags the dog and HPD does not get any hard questions and the council seems to totally defer and grovel before whomever appears before them from HPD . As far as the Mayor, I do no know what kind of clout he may have but you will find that he often hides behind the police commission when issues arise.
In this case, the selection of Borges by No Aloha Kealoha was so controversial that it is not surprising that Borges ends up declining the promotion after the Mayor had a private meeting
with the Chief.
Seems like a lot of posters don’t own mirrors.
i would imagine you are correct. I would guess that most posters are not members of law enforcement who are sworn to uphold the law but then go out and break the law, most posters do not have a history of violence against our domestic partners, most poster are not lolo enough to send out such an inflammatory letter. Yes, you might be right.
Aaaaaand kk808 just got served
I look in the mirror and I see someone who’s never assaulted their spouse and never had a restraining order issued against them. So yeah, I’m commenting.
These Jesus freaks conduct themselves like their make pretend friend in the sky will grant all their little boy wishes. They also wield their beliefs to create fear amongst those they wish to do their bidding for them. Sickening.
Kind of like…. I S I L ??
I doubt he’s a holy roller. Just wanted to put himself in that light to gain sympathy.
I know it’s hard to believe because I wouldn’t believe it myself if someone told me my destiny would change if I served God. But it did. I feel blessed. I don’t pray or wish for anything. I don’t have to. I do a lot of thanking. We are blessed with a new destiny. May the Force be with you.
This guy should not even be a police officer. This is yet again another example of a cop being treated differently by HPD. Technically he’s not even qualified to possess a firearm much less be a cop. Anyone else with a terroristic threatening conviction would be rejected by HPD for gun ownership all together. It’s just fair when cops get treated differently than the average citizen, it erodes public confidence in the police department that serves them.
Borges has always been open about his past, pleaded guilty at that time, paid the price and changed his life around. nobody is perfect, yes as a public official he is held to a different standard but Espero is sending the wrong message. Espero is saying-don’t turn your life around because no matter how you amend your ways, you past will always haunt you and hurt you. Borges should have pleaded not guilty against his good conscience, deny, deny deny, do it the evil way and then Espero would have been on his side.
Though Borges may believe he “turned himself around”, saw the light and was “saved”, I think he should have kept a low profile. That the Chief actually brought his name out and created this PR fiasco, further dragging the reputation of HPD into a huge credibility chasm, is truly unbelievable and brings into question Kealoha’s intelligence and ability to lead.
you can turn your life around but still not be suitable for a position like this. Also, he’s sending whiny letters to “Brothers and Sisters in Christ,” bringing his religion into this and showing questionable (at best) judgment.
I disagree.
I agree.
The Devil made him do it!
I commend Major Borges for turning down the promotion. He put the Department first.
Turned down? Or “counseled” to turn it down by Chief after a chat with Krik because the s * * t storm of negative PR would have been headlining for the next three months!!
Or his character flaws could not stand up to deeper scrutiny for fear of exposing other criminal activity.
Too bad, this guy would have been great. Espero, how come OCCC had the worst riot incident in 30 years and Halawa guards,235 called in sick for Super Bowl, hah, I can’t hear you.
They must be bummed…that wasn’t a very good Super Bowl.
Chief Louis Kealoha who is under suspicion for corruption appoints Borges’. Who came “under fire by critics, including state Sen. Will Espero, because the officer was arrested in 1994 for domestic violence. Borges pleaded guilty to second-degree terroristic threatening and received probation.”
Is there no better alternate w/out a terroristic threatening charge? Would this be a role-model for assistant chief with a checkered past? I’m glad he declined the promotion.
In order to bring ‘change’ to the dept. someone that will remain unbiased, with a clean record and from the outside needs to take the helm. We need a fresh new set of eyes.
Now that Espero has cleaned up HPD, he should start working on State Law Enforcement Officers (Sheriffs). That agency is sorely in need of training and resources. Senator Espero what ever happened to the Deputy Sheriff who shot an alleged suspect armed with a knife after a high speed chase from the airport to Kunia. Was that a justified shooting. You have Sheriffs patrolling the streets of Honolulu armed who are lacking the training and resources to do the job. Senator Espero by allowing poorly trained Deputy Sheriffs to patrol and enforce State and City laws, on the streets of Honolulu, this leaves the public and Deputy Sheriffs in danger. It is time that you and your fellow law makers correct this very dangerous situation.
I’d rather have someone like Borges: who has a made a mistake, owned up to it, suffered the legal and personal consequences of their actions and changed for the better than someone who portends to be free of “sin” than …well…a lot of other people.
Not “than”, “like”
See the problem with your comment is that he hasn’t suffered the consequences of his crime. He still has his job to which he is no longer qualified for. Those convicted of terroristic threatening are ineligible to own or carry firearms. He shouldn’t be receiving special treatment just because he’s a high ranking police officer. He should have been terminated when the incident happened in 1994. It’s yet another example of cops being treated better than the average citizen would have in the same circumstances.
Another embarrassing moment for the department. Kealoha should resign.
after his indiscretions, how in the world did he get promoted all the way to major? it appears that the only way to be promoted is to be a rogue cop and the chief will promote you. kealoha gotta go, he has no sense of integrity, he should demand that his management team be spotless, check some of the other guys, they may have skeletons too.
I’m not getting the reasoning here, this isn’t Borges’ first promotion since 1994, why is this an issue now? He’s doing his job as a Major what’s the difference if he’s an Assistant Chief? Anyone can take out a TRO on someone without proof of wrong doing.