Hawaii County
settles police lawsuitsThe county discounts the
charges but settles without going
to trial because of the costs
HILO >> Hawaii County has agreed to pay a total of $93,000 to settle two separate lawsuits filed against the Hawaii County Police Department, retired Chief Wayne Carvalho and another police official.
Joseph Kamelamela, a county deputy corporation counsel, said the county agreed pay $60,000 to former police officer Tanny Cazimero and $33,000 to Kona resident Jack Brunton.
Cazimero was fired in September 2000. He then sued the county and the Police Department, as well as then-Chief Carvalho and Capt. Hyland Char, his immediate supervisor.
Cazimero alleged that his superiors were taking revenge against him for being a whistle-blower. The suit also alleged that Carvalho defamed Cazimero and that Char assaulted him. The allegations were denied by both men.
Cazimero first spoke out against the chief while still in uniform, asking the Police Commission to fire Carvalho for bringing "disrepute" on the department in his handling of a rigged-promotion scandal. The county was subsequently ordered to pay millions of dollars to officers denied promotions.
Cazimero also said in his lawsuit that he was fired in retribution for reporting alleged illegal activities of fellow officers between 1997 and 2000. And he said someone in the department leaked his medical records to the Police Commission in violation of union regulations.
The county discounted the charges and characterized Cazi-mero as "a disgruntled employee whose work performance fell far below department standards."
Kamelamela said the county settled the case without going to trial "because we had to look at costs." He noted that the county had retained ex-Attorney General Margery Bronster to represent the ex-police chief.
In Brunton's lawsuit, the Kona man alleged that Carvalho ordered officers to keep him under surveillance as a harassment tactic because he had written anti-Carvalho letters to local newspapers and spoken against the chief at Police Commission meetings.
Brunton, a former University of Idaho police chief, further alleged that Carvalho defamed his character by telling reporters that Brunton was suspected of engaging in criminal activities.
After reaching an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit, the two sides issued a joint statement that said, "There is no evidence of (Brunton) being involved in any illegal activity, and it is County of Hawaii policy not to have the Hawaii County Police Department investigate persons solely because of their political activities."
Kamelamela said only one of the numerous lawsuits brought against the Police Department during the Carvalho administration remains to be adjudicated. A federal suit filed by Richard Adams alleging discrimination in a terroristic threatening case is scheduled to be heard in September.
