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Honolulu police will share crime highlights at regular intervals with the public and stop using the “do not post to media” designation on those highlights following an internal review of why the felony arrest of the incoming chief’s son earned that label.
On May 24, the day after retired Maj. Gen. Arthur “Joe” Logan was picked to serve as Honolulu’s 12th police chief, his son, Zane Michael Batalona Logan, was arrested and charged with felony assault for allegedly attacking a 33-year-old man with a metal hook at Ala Moana Beach Park. Logan asked Honolulu Police Department leadership if he could participate in the news conference announcing the arrest, and made clear that he would not be kept apprised of the investigation or any interactions his son may have with police.
Joe Logan previously told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that he didn’t tell the commission about his son’s more than 40 arrests and citations and a pending felony theft trial during the selection process because they had not spoken or seen one another for three years and he didn’t know the extent of his son’s interactions with police. Since Zane Logan’s arrest May 24, Joe Logan has discussed the relationship with police commissioners who stand by their decision to name him as HPD’s next chief.
Interim Chief Rade Vanic briefed the Honolulu Police Commission on Wednesday about the department’s handling of Zane Logan, 36, and explained why investigators wrote, in red letters, “do not post to media,” on the highlight.
He said Zane Logan’s arrest was immediately entered into the system after he was booked, and available upon request before it was posted online with HPD’s booking sheet. The booking log is updated at
1 p.m. each day and includes the arrests from the previous 48 hours up until noon the day it is released
He provided commissioners with a timeline of Zane Logan’s apprehension — starting with the 911 call of people fighting in the street shortly after 5 p.m. May 24 — to the Criminal Investigation Division supervisor signing off on the highlight early the next morning.
“Upon looking into this, and we did look into this, there was no special treatment that was given. This case was handled as we normally would. I know there was some indication or some speculation … especially with the highlight … that we tried to hide this or give special treatment or not make it go public … I’d like to reaffirm that that couldn’t be further from the truth,” said Vanic, speaking to commissioners. “Once they (responding officers) got on scene they were notified by Zane that he was related to soon-to-be Chief Logan. Our officers then made a call to verify that he was, in fact, who he said he was. When they did confirm that he was, in fact, the son of Gen. Logan, despite that, they still made the arrest.”
Commissioner Doug Chin, speaking during Wednesday’s meeting, told Vanic that the “do not post to media” designation still doesn’t feel right.
Chin strongly urged the department to “err on the side of transparency” and said he believes Joe Logan “has that value.”
“The caution that I would give to the department, as well as Gen. Logan, the incoming chief … I think stamps like that if they exist, it just reinforces a theme of nontransparency within the department which I think is most unfortunate,” Chin said. “That’s something that the commission, at least I did, took into account in thinking about why it would be important to bring in someone who would be outside the department to be able to bring that about.”
Vanic agreed that it was “not something we want posted on our highlights” and going forward it may be replaced with “pending review” or no label at all.
The day after Joe Logan’s news conference detailing his son’s arrest, Vanic told commissioners he met with his Criminal Investigation Division staff and those responsible for sharing the highlights to ensure there were “no inconsistencies” in the policies and procedures.
In addition to doing away with the “do not post to media” designation, highlights will be posted at regular intervals, and any highlight approved by CID commanders that does not involve victims who are minors will be released to the public, Vanic vowed.
Zane Logan’s arrest was a “high-profile case,” Vanic told commissioners, and in the past, news media got leaked information about high-profile cases and reported stories before investigators could thoroughly investigate and gather evidence. Their actions had a “negative impact” on the outcome of the case, Vanic said, without citing a specific case.
Zane Logan’s highlight was created a little after
10 p.m. May 24, and the first opportunity for the CID major to review it would be early the next morning, Vanic told commissioners. The CID major approved it, the label was removed, and it was posted by 7:30 a.m. the next morning, Vanic said.
“Moving forward, there should be no discrepancy, no question about whether or not the information should be posted,” he said.
Zane Logan was eventually charged with misdemeanor assault in connection with the alleged May 24 incident after an HPD lieutenant and a prosecutor agreed to downgrade the offense from a felony.
Zane Logan allegedly attacked a man on the lanai of the Whole Foods store on Kamakee Street before chasing him into the street in front of the sand volleyball area at Ala Moana Regional Park in a dispute over Logan’s girlfriend.
A witness told a responding officer that Logan accused the man he allegedly assaulted of sexually assaulting the girlfriend and told the man he would kill him. The woman was arrested with Logan after she allegedly held a razor blade to the 33-year-old’s neck and also threatened to kill him.
She was charged with felony terroristic threatening.
The man suffered minor cuts to the bridge of his nose and the right side of his face and a “bloody wound to the back of his head,” according to police reports included in state court documents. The weapon was a foot-long, red-and-black Craftsman hook tool with a metal tip.
Zane Logan’s next court appearance in the case is June 13. He is scheduled for a separate hearing June 27 in a felony theft case in connection with more than $750 in electronics stolen from a Target store.
Joe Logan’s first day as HPD chief has not been announced.
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