Fired cop wins
reinstatement, $150,000-
plus in back pay

The HPD officer's
kidnapping-assault trial
ended with a jury that
deadlocked

By Jaymes K. Song
Star-Bulletin

A Honolulu police lieutenant who was dismissed after being charged with extorting, kidnapping and sexually assaulting a teen-age prostitute, has been reinstated with partial back pay totaling more than $150,000.

An arbitrator ruled that Dennis Yuen, 51, who was dismissed in 1992, was to be reinstated with his former rank and three years of back pay and benefits. His salary in the past three years would have been about $50,000 a year.

Yuen, who works as a security guard, had not been active on the force since his 1992 firing.

Yuen's attorney, Randal Yoshida, said the arbitrator ruled in his client's favor because the city didn't have "just cause" to terminate his client.

"The bottom line is that there were so many conflicts in testimony, they failed to meet burden of proof," Yoshida said.

Arbitrator Randall Y.C. Ching today would not comment on the Aug. 24 ruling reinstating Yuen.

Yuen, who served 21 years in the Honolulu Police Department, last month joined the HPD's 130th recruit class and is going through the academy again for a "refresher course." His first day back on the HPD payroll was Sept. 21.

The veteran lieutenant will be assigned to a division after completing the academy, which began in July and runs 61/2 months. He was a supervisor in the HPD's Communication Division when he was dismissed.

Yuen was accused of fondling an 18-year-old downtown prostitute and taking a nude photograph of her, saying that she "owed" him for not arresting her. He was charged with five counts of extortion, kidnapping and misdemeanor sexual assault.

At his trial, Yuen denied all the allegations and said he never saw the woman before the trial.

A mistrial was declared in 1994 after jurors could not reach a decision. A retrial was scheduled in 1995, but prosecutors dropped the case after the woman decided she did not want to go through a second trial.

"The experience caused a lot of stress on him as well as his family," Yoshida said, adding that Yuen has been working as a security guard to support his wife and three adopted children. "At this point in time, he's just looking forward to serving the police department as well as community to the best he can as a policeman."

The arbitrator was called on to decide the case in a grievance against the city filed by the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers in Yuen's behalf.

SHOPO said that it was just doing its job in representing Yuen.

"SHOPO represented the member and it's up to the arbitrator," said union president Bennie Atkinson. "We presented our side -- management presented their side -- and the arbitrator ruled he would get reinstated."

The department declined to comment on the reinstatement.