By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle pauses for
an interview at his cleared-for-action office.

He rescinded the rule requiring visitors to sign in and wear badges, and staff and deputy prosecutors to wear identification cards within the secured office.

It's a little symbol of the boss's impatience with "bureaucratic tomfoolery."

"There are certain levels of bureaucracy associated with this office that can be streamlined," said Carlisle, pausing for a brief interview Friday after meeting with a group of Honolulu police detectives. A few unpacked boxes cluttered the 10th-floor office in Alii Place, which otherwise had a bare, cleared-for-action look.

Also missing from the suite of offices are a large wall seal of the Office of City Prosecutor and a podium bearing the seal behind which former prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro spoke at press conferences. "Apparently they were Keith's private property," said Carlisle with a grin.

But he declined to comment further on the changeover from the previous regime. Kaneshiro, who endorsed Carlisle's opponent David Arakawa, has taken a position as director of the state Department of Public Safety.

Carlisle said many of the deputy prosecutors under Kaneshiro have remained in the office. As a prelude to his Jan. 2 swearing-in, Carlisle interviewed the deputies.

He said he has the discretion to reassign deputies, "the same as in a private law firm. It is in my interest to have them happy working here, and it is to their interest to keep me happy about their work. One of the first things is that I believe in a lot in training, that is important."

"I'm not somebody who is an enthusiast of 'busy work,'" he said about untangling office red tape such as keeping "statistics that go nowhere, and methods of evaluating people. In this particular office, there is enough real work to do. I don't need layers and layers of bureaucratic tomfoolery wasting our time."

He said his impatience with bureaucracy goes beyond his office.

"I would dearly love to see smaller cases handled in a more streamlined fashion. That occurred with the notion of decriminalization in traffic court.

"Eventually I would like to see things tried quickly, swiftly and economically. It makes no sense to have a $10,000 procedure for a $25 traffic ticket. By the same token, it makes no sense to have a $10,000 procedure for a petty criminal offense. Those types of things need to be looked at."

Carlisle said he has also prepared in the two months since his Nov. 5 election by meeting with some legislators, members of the state attorney general's office and the Law Enforcement Coalition.

"The legislation I am interested in is not complex. First, there is (expanding available) prison space.

"Secondly, there is reforming the juvenile justice system, starting off with confidentiality, what goes on behind closed doors at Family Court. I think you guys (the media) should be swarming over that place. Let the sunshine in.

"I always thought that the criminal justice system was supposed to be public. I think that protects everybody. Right now, it is public when it protects the defendant and private when it protects the defendant. I think that's wrong.

"I think it should be public because that protects the defendant, the public and the victims."

Even though changing the whole justice system is beyond the power of city prosecutor, "There's no reason why you can't be a voice for change," Carlisle said.

"Change is a very, very positive force. My neighbor Steve Geshell said the most negative force on the planet is fear of failure. It stops things from ever happening."

Carlisle said his friend was talking about a golfing situation, but he would apply the philosophy to the criminal justice system where people balk at change, saying: "You can't do that. Oh, no, it would never succeed."

The area where he vows not to allow change because of the demands of his new job is in his family life.

Before taking office, Carlisle relaxed on a skiing trip with wife, Judy, and children Aspen, 11, and Benson, 8.

"I take my children and my spouse and my family very seriously. My family is No. 1 in my life."