Internal Affairs to go through wiretaps
The HPD unit will review tapes obtained from the FBI in a case against HPD officers
Honolulu police Internal Affairs investigators will be going through about 150,000 hours of wiretap tapes recorded by the FBI as part of an investigation of its officers.
The tapes were part of the federal government's investigation, which culminated last week with the indictment of five police officers.
Three are accused of warning members of the North Shore cockfighting operation about impending raids; another officer faces charges of concealing cockfighting spurs from FBI agents; and a fifth officer is accused of possessing an Israeli machine gun.
Police top brass said they are not sure what investigators will hear on those tapes. Since the FBI has already charged the officers with any criminal offenses they could find, police said they expect their investigation would be administrative, to see whether officers heard on the tape had broken any of the department's rules of conduct. If they have, they could receive a verbal or written reprimand, suspension or termination.
"This is not a witch hunt by any means," said Honolulu Police Department spokesman Capt. Frank Fujii. "We're doing this because it's the right thing to do."
Fujii said he is not sure how many officers can be heard on the tapes; the FBI has not yet handed over the recordings to the department. Fujii said if the department has to, it will assign officers to assist in the investigation.
"When you're talking about public trust and integrity ... you can't put a cost on that," he said.
FBI agents and HPD's Internal Affairs Unit conducted a two-year investigation with 10 court-authorized wiretaps and more than 80 search warrants. In a six-count indictment filed Thursday in U.S. District Court, Sgt. Kevin Brunn of the Wahiawa District, officer Bryson Apo of the Kaneohe District and officer Glenn Miram, a seven-year veteran assigned to the Narcotics Vice Division, are accused of conspiracy and of obstructing law enforcement, enabling the illegal gambling business to operate.
Besides the HPD officers, also indicted was a former FBI secretary and 17 others. Former FBI support technician Charmaine Moniz is alleged to have divulged sensitive information to drug dealers on Oahu's North Shore in 2003 and 2004 and may be the first FBI employee to be prosecuted in Hawaii.
Moniz was tied to John Saguibo, a "key player who brokered information between the drug organization and the Police Department," FBI Special Agent in Charge Charles Goodwin said last week.
Wiretapping and telephone interception of Saguibo established he was receiving information from Honolulu police officers Kevin Brunn, Glenn Miram, Bryson Apo and possibly others, the FBI said. The three officers have been charged with warning members of the operation of when the HPD's Vice Division intended to raid their cockfights, as well as craps and card games.
Police officer Barry Tong, with 21 years service and a partner of Apo, was indicted separately for allegedly possessing an Israeli machine gun.
Another police officer, John Edwin Cambra IV, and his father were indicted for allegedly removing and concealing cockfighting spurs during an FBI search of their family's home in Kaneohe.
