ARTHUR TARBELL / 1912-2002

Retired HPD official
advocated safety

In 1960 he fought with and
judo-tossed the Big Isle police chief,
whom he was trying to arrest
for disorderly conduct.

Big Isle image problem cited
More obituaries

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By Genevieve A. Suzuki
gsuzuki@starbulletin.com

Former Honolulu Deputy Police Chief Arthur Tarbell, 90, who advocated safety education for women and introduced a recreational program to boost prisoner morale, died Sunday at his home in Honolulu.

"He was intelligent, a good police officer and a good police administrator," said Harold Falk, a retired Honolulu deputy police chief. "He always tried to do what was right for everybody concerned. Very public relations-conscious."

Tarbell retired from the Police Department on Aug. 1, 1966, because of back and shoulder injuries suffered on the job.

In 1960, Tarbell, Big Island Police Chief Anthony Paul and another man from the Big Island got into a fight, which ended when Tarbell used a judo move to throw Paul across the bar at the Princess Kaiulani Hotel.

The fight broke out when Tarbell tried to arrest Paul for disorderly conduct. After the fight, the two filed complaints against each other that led to assault and battery charges. Paul dropped the charge against Tarbell, and Paul was convicted, but the conviction was overturned in Circuit Court.

"That was out of character for him (Tarbell), I think," Falk said. "I knew him as quite an intelligent individual."

Tarbell was born April 11, 1912, in St. Charles, Ill. He came to Hawaii in 1937 as a newspaper reporter.

Tarbell joined the Honolulu Police Department in 1942. As a lieutenant, he became former Police Chief Dan Liu's administrative secretary in 1947 before being promoted to captain in 1949.

Tarbell was named assistant police chief in 1953 and became deputy police chief in 1956.

Tarbell is survived by companion Sue Darrow and sister Virginia Haspert. Services will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be sent to Cancer Society of Hawaii.