Ousted police union official sues SHOPO, alleges blackmail and discrimination

The former vice president of the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers is suing the union and its executive board, alleging they conspired to remove him by falsely accusing him of double-dipping into travel funds from the union and the Honolulu Police Department, and blackmailing him with the threat of criminal charges.

HPD Sgt. David Leonard “Kawika” Hallums is suing the union and members of the executive board in their official union capacity and as individuals. Hallums, who was unchallenged in SHOPO’s 2021 elections and won reelection as a board vice president, was targeted because he “dared” to support other candidates during the cycle, and exposed the new board members for breaking “their fiduciary duties to SHOPO’s members” and using their positions for personal gain, according to the civil complaint filed Tuesday in state court.

SHOPO President Robert Cavaco, board members John Asing Jr., Stephen Keogh, Shawn Cavaco, Carmel Hurley, Derek Pa, Nicholas Schlapak, James Correa, Christopher Calio, Nicholas Krau, General Manager James “Kimo” Smith and counsel Randal Yoshida allegedly developed a plan to oust Hallums at the union’s Jan. 5 meeting, according to the lawsuit.

Asing, Hurley, Keogh, Pa, Schlapak and Robert and Shawn Cavaco are current HPD officers. Smith is a retired HPD officer, Calio is an officer with the Kauai Police Department, Krau is an officer with the Maui Police Department and Correa is an officer with the Hawaii Police Department.

An HPD spokesperson told the Star-­Advertiser at this time there are no criminal complaints associated with any of the allegations outlined in the lawsuit.

“The allegations against SHOPO and its new leaders are false,” Robert Cavaco told the Star-Advertiser. “Mr. Hallums profited by double-dipping in violation of SHOPO’s applicable rules and policies, and that behavior could not be tolerated.”

Hallums’ attorney, Bosko Petricevic, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that a March 8 email sent to all SHOPO members in Hawaii prompted the lawsuit.

The email informs members that Hallums was removed as SHOPO vice president on March 4 after the state board voted unanimously with one abstention in support of the conclusion that Hallums breached his fiduciary duty to the union on two occasions in 2019. Hallums allegedly accepted per diem allowances from SHOPO and released time from HPD, in violation of SHOPO’s travel policy, according to the email.

“The board determined that the policy against ‘double-­dipping’ was well known and that violating that policy was detrimental to SHOPO,” reads the March 8 note to all police union members. “Although Mr. Hallums repaid the per diem payments in 2022, he showed no remorse for his actions.”

Four other board members were found in violation of the same policy, repaid the money, and were not removed from the board, in part, because they were not Black and Hawaiian like Hallums, the lawsuit alleges.

Moments after he was sworn in, the civil action alleges, the other board members went into a secret special session to discuss Hallums and upon returning presented him with a list of allegations of which he had no prior knowledge.

The board told Hallums he “improperly collected per diem payments from SHOPO in year 2019 and that Plaintiff has failed to reimburse the SHOPO for travel expenses of his companion when Plaintiff was traveling on union’s business.” He was immediately removed, his union privileges suspended, and was threatened “with criminal prosecution unless he signed a ‘voluntary’ resignation letter from his position of vice-president of SHOPO,” according to the complaint.

The suit alleges that Hallums, a former University of Hawaii basketball player who works as an analyst of Rainbow Warrior sports for Spectrum, suffered irreparable damage to his personal reputation, embarrassment, mental anguish and damage to his dream of pursuing a career as a national sports media personality after his HPD service.

It alleges blackmail, violation of whistleblower protections, defamation, racial discrimination and civil rights violations among the many ways Hallums was hurt by the alleged actions of the new board that voted for his ouster.

“The most they could find was a per diem payment three years ago that was approved by the (previous SHOPO) president,” said Petricevic. “If that’s all they got on Kawika that’s a man of pretty good character in my opinion.”

Hallums alleges SHOPO’s new board members broke union policies and procedures including for booking and reimbursing travel, paying staff overtime payments, and attendance at union meetings.

SHOPO leaders maintain the suit has no “factual or legal merit.”

“His decision jeopardized the trust and working relationship between SHOPO, the Honolulu Police Department, and all the other county police agencies statewide that SHOPO represents. Mr. Hallums was removed after being afforded his due process. SHOPO demands more of its leaders. SHOPO will not give in to unfounded threats and false charges. We will defend this case vigorously, and because this complaint is not based on fact, we look forward to being vindicated at trial,” said Robert Cavaco.