Kokua Line
Kokua Line
Question: One day, while driving to work on the H-1 Freeway, town-bound, between Makakilo and Waipahu, a Monte Carlo came racing up on my right. As the car was slightly ahead of me, I noticed the driver slam on his brakes. When I looked in my rear-view mirror, I noticed a red car behind him that he obviously was trying to get to hit him. The red car went behind and then to the left of my car. I was amazed to see the driver of the Monte Carlo was a cop, with three stripes, playing road rage games! How police complaints
are handledThe cop caught up with the red car and made hand gestures to get the red car to pull over. The driver of the red car slowed down and continued in a lawful manner without pulling over. The officer then sped off, weaving recklessly in and out of traffic.
I was extremely appalled to see an officer of the law behaving like a punk. Is there any agency available to police the police? Who does the public contact to report flagrant misconduct of the police?
Answer: Call either the Honolulu Police Commission, 527-6215, or the Honolulu Police Department's Internal Affairs Division, 529-3286. However, you would need to supply more specific information.
According to HPD records, there is no HPD-subsidized vehicle with the license prefix you gave, said spokeswoman Michelle Yu. "And, further, it is extremely unlikely that an officer who was either going to or from work would not be driving a subsidized vehicle."
Yu said either the prefix you supplied was wrong or the man was not a police officer. He could be a security officer for a firm or agency with uniforms similar to HPD's, she said.
The Honolulu Police Commission looks into charges that an officer was threatening or physically or verbally abusive. Complaints should be filed within 60 days. HPD's Internal Affairs Division looks into complaints about police procedures, including mishandling of evidence, or complaints more than 60 days old.
Q: We have an Entertainment 2000 book that had a coupon that says if we buy one $20 ticket for the Jeep Aloha Bowl, we would get one free. Mail-ins had to be received by Dec. 8 and walk-ins by Dec. 24.
We mailed our order Nov. 22 but got a letter back on Nov. 30 saying all $20 (north end-zone) tickets were sold out, but that we could buy tickets for $30 and $45. My friend went there with her Entertainment card and other people were there with their McDonald's coupons on Nov. 22 and had no problems getting tickets. I think this was false advertising. Why didn't they say they had only a limited number of tickets or that they were first-come, first-served?
A: Although you said your coupon did not specify a limitation, Marcia Klompus, of Bowl Games Hawaii, sent us a copy of a coupon that says, on one side: VALID FOR UP TO 4 TICKETS/Mail Order Only (see reverse side)/(on availability basis). If the University of Hawaii wasn't playing in that Christmas Day game, "we wouldn't have had this much volume that early," Klompus said of the demand for tickets to the Jeep Aloha Bowl.
Unfortunately, if you mailed your order on Nov. 22, it did not reach the office until a day or two later. By that day, the last ticket for the north end-zone was gone. "We feel very bad and we try to please everyone," but the problem is there are only so many promotional seats available (such as with the coupon book and with McDonald's), Klompus said.
"The McDonald's promotion is over Dec. 11. We just have enough to squeak by there," she said Wednesday.
Need help with problems? Call Kokua Line at 525-8686,
fax 525-6711, or write to P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu 96802.
Email to kokualine@starbulletin.com