Editorial: Details needed on security shootings

The public deserves more answers to the reasoned questioning about how two recent fatal shootings, both involving employees of the state Department of Public Safety, could have happened.

It’s unwise to second-guess these cases until all the facts are in, of course. And DPS indicates that both its own administrative inquiry as well as an independent criminal investigation are underway.

But it will be time soon for some fact-finding by the Legislature, which needs to direct some tough queries about DPS training and protocols to Nolan Espinda, who is up for Senate confirmation to continue his post as department director.

And lawmakers have a chance to double down on preventive measures, as they should, by passing a bill that would establish an independent oversight panel over DPS.

The main investigation should be on last week’s case, in which a guard from the Oahu Community Correctional Center fatally shot Maurice Arrisgado Jr., 47, as he attempted to escape. But this came only weeks after, on Feb. 18, a deputy sheriff shot and killed a 28-year-old homeless man, Delmar Espejo, while making security rounds at the state Capitol.

According to the initial releases by DPS, Espejo had been drinking and initiated a struggle against the deputy, who had ordered him to leave. There were no cameras documenting the deputy’s description of events, or recording the alleged assault.

Lawmakers need to hear more from Espinda why deadly force was needed in this incident, involving a man of slight build; deputies need alternatives, such as a Taser gun, as an alternative weapon. And prospects for better security at the public facility should be explored as well.

The second case, leading to the death of Arrisgado, was even more disturbing, because it raises questions about whether guards and other officials rigorously follow rules about control of the inmates in their charge.

The guard in the March 1 incident shot Arrisgado on a Kalihi street after the inmate escaped corrections custody during his return to OCCC. Then instead of calling an emergency medical service team, personnel put him back in the van and returned him to jail for his initial treatment. Only then was EMS called, and Arrisgado sent to the hospital, where he died.

That is certainly an irregular response, a departure from acceptable protocol; Espinda will be compelled to explain such decisions. Further, it’s baffling how it was that an inmate could be delivered back from a court appearance and have his leg shackles removed before the security gate had closed. Arrisgado managed to clear several doors to make his escape.

The jail is within steps of residential Kalihi. While it’s plain that an escape could put the neighbors in peril, firing a gun in this vicinity is perilous in itself — and shouldn’t have been necessary.

While the departmental probe is ongoing, legislators should continue to move House Bill 1552, which would create a Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission. Advocates are right: DPS needs such a commission. No policing agency should be allowed to police itself.

Honolulu has been subjected to an inordinate degree of force from law enforcement lately. Even before the most recent DPS shootings, in October police shot and killed a man on the state Health Department grounds after deputy sheriffs tried unsuccessfully to take away the man’s shears and machete. Cases on Jan. 29 and Feb. 19 led to two more fatal shootings.

Modern Oahu might be fostering more crime, but the public needs to feel more secure that its hired protectors are equipped and trained to fulfill that function. And it’s time Public Safety officials reassure with details to make that happen.