Honolulu prosecutors will conduct independent investigations of police department’s fatal shootings

For the first time in more than 30 years, Honolulu prosecutors plan to conduct independent investigations of Honolulu Police Department shootings to determine whether criminal, civil or administrative action is warranted, starting with this month’s fatal shootings of 16-year-old Iremamber Sykap and 29-year old Lindani Myeni.

“I believe that the Department (of the Prosecuting Attorney), with its prosecutorial experience and ability to conduct independent investigations, is in the best position to review and investigate any police shooting cases that arise on Oahu,” Prosecutor Steven S. Alm told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “Given that the Department is the entity that will bring charges against police officers, if appropriate, it only makes sense for the department to be involved in the investigation from the start and provide the needed independent perspective that will benefit both the public and HPD.”

Alm, a former Circuit Court judge who served as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawaii from 1994-2001, is scheduled to announce his plans for independently investigating HPD shootings at a news conference today.

Alm said he is not aware of any HPD officer being prosecuted for a shooting in the line of duty. But that does not mean HPD did not conduct thorough and appropriate investigations, or that any decision not to charge an officer was wrong, Alm said.

HPD declined to comment on Alm’s intentions to independently review police shootings.

From 2015 to 2019, nonlethal or lethal force was used in less than 1% of all incidents resulting in a police report, according to HPD. The department received 935,012 calls for emergency and nonemergency service in 2019, up 4.2% from 896,735 calls to 911 in 2018.

There were two fatal shootings by officers in 2020; five in 2019; six in 2018; two in 2017; one in 2016; and none in 2015.

Currently, there are eight claims of wrongful death involving police interactions and seven claims of excessive force against the city, Krishna F. Jayaram, Honolulu’s First Deputy Corporation Counsel, told the Star-Advertiser. The city’s Corporation Counsel handles wrongful death and excessive force lawsuits filed against the city and HPD.

Sykap was the driver of a stolen Honda Civic allegedly involved in an April 5 crime spree. Sykap led police on a car chase until he drove at officers while heading the wrong way on Kalakaua Avenue, according to HPD. The Civic ended up in the canal along Kalakaua. Police recovered a replica firearm from the vehicle.

Myeni was shot April 14 during a violent confrontation that left three HPD officers injured after they responded to a 911 call of a burglary in Nuuanu. Myeni’s widow filed a lawsuit against HPD and three officers last week.

Historically, Honolulu prosecutors review all shootings by officers after HPD performs its own investigation.

But prosecutors are not allowed to review the findings of HPD’s Professional Standards Office, which investigates allegations of police misconduct. Prosecutors also may not independently investigate officer-involved shootings, visit the scene of the shootings or question witnesses. Prosecutors review HPD’s findings before sharing their opinions and recommendations with HPD’s police chief and leadership team. The names of officers involved in shootings are not made public.

“This process typically takes a long time, frequently over a year,” Alm said. “I will be introducing revised procedures for reviewing and investigating police-involved shootings that will be more independent, timely, and efficient than the current process. The Sykap and Myeni cases will be reviewed under the new procedures.”

James S. Tabe, the state Public Defender, agreed that Honolulu’s current process for reviewing shootings by officers is flawed and supported the changes offered by Alm.

“The Prosecutor’s office or the Department of Attorney General should take a more active role in the investigation and be allowed to have access to all materials,” Tabe told the Star-Advertiser. “Essentially, any shooting is potentially a crime scene. Therefore, any and all reports prepared by the police investigators should be forwarded to the prosecutor.”

Mayor Rick Blangiardi, who has called for more transparency in the process of reviewing shootings by officers, praised Alm’s new approach.

“I wholeheartedly support the Honolulu Prosecutor introducing new procedures that will result in independent, timely and efficient reviews and investigations of police-involved shootings,” Blangiardi told the Star-Advertiser.

Some attorneys representing the families of suspects shot and killed by police also lauded the change, but cautioned that it still involves one part of the criminal justice system investigating another and that a true independent assessment of police shootings is needed to ensure transparency and to address community concerns.

Eric A. Seitz, a private attorney who has been involved in police misconduct cases since the 1970s, told the Star-Advertiser his office is handing five pending wrongful death lawsuits against the city and HPD.

Seitz remembers when officers occasionally beat suspects, and in the 1990s shot and killed one or two suspects a year. He is concerned by the current pace of police shootings.

Seitz supported Alm taking a more active role in reviewing police shootings, but said independent review by a third-party agency outside of law enforcement would provide a credible way to assess culpability. The Law Enforcement Officer Independent Review Board should be funded and given the ability to make binding recommendations, he said.

“I think that (the prosecuting attorney investigating) is certainly better than having the police investigate themselves,” Seitz said. “But from past experiences with previous prosecutors, that doesn’t necessarily mean an independent review will take place. Prosecutors certainly should be doing that. But I am not sure that is the be all and end all of whether charges are justified.”

Joshua Wisch, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii, welcomed the new policies and told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser there is a conflict of interest when HPD is investigating its own officers after they shoot and kill a suspect and that an independent entity should handle the investigation.

“But even this is not enough because a fundamental conflict still exists,” Wisch said. “There is a close working relationship between county prosecutors and their affiliated county police departments. For an investigation to be truly independent, that link should be cut. Some localities on the continent appoint special prosecutors from other jurisdictions to assure independent review.”