Mayor irked by questions
after wife’s speeding ticket

He characterizes police behavior
as "inappropriate"

Honolulu's mayor and his wife shared an experience common to many motorists the other night: a speeding ticket. But the mayor, a passenger in the car being driven by his wife, did what most other motorists aren't able to do. He went to the police chief.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann said he called Chief Boisse Correa about the line of questioning of police officers after being stopped for speeding Wednesday night.

Hannemann said he and his wife, Gail, were heading up Piikoi Street from Ala Moana Center about 9 or 9:30 p.m. when they were pulled over. He said one of the officers kept asking where they had been and what they had been doing and appeared to be "fishing for a DUI."

"My wife doesn't drink, I don't drink," Hannemann said. "She didn't hit a pole or a car.

"If he thinks she was drinking, he should have pulled her out of the car and given her a breathalyzer.

"It was inappropriate."

Hannemann said he called Correa later, but only to discuss "policy and procedures" about the officer's questions and not the speeding ticket itself, which was for going 13 miles over the 25 mph speed limit.

"We are not contesting the ticket," Hannemann said.

Correa said he did receive a call from the mayor about the incident and that they talked about "procedural matters." Correa would not say what kind of procedures nor talk about whether he discussed the matter with the rest of his commanders.

"The mayor called me up to inform me that he was in the car with his wife and that she had received a citation," Correa said. "I said, 'Fine, thank you for informing me because it involved my personnel.'

"We talked about some other things ... some procedural matters, and I answered his concerns and that was it, end of story."

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STAR-BULLETIN / OCTOBER 2004 Mufi Hannemann and wife Gail are shown on the campaign trail just before he was elected mayor last year.

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Correa would not say when he got the call from the mayor, whether it was during the traffic stop or sometime afterward. He did say, however, that the call was not out of the ordinary and that Hannemann did not try to have Correa alter the ticket.

"No, no, no, no, not at all," Correa said. "Unequivocally and absolutely no.

"This mayor did not try to do any cover-up or do anything that was improper other than to let me know what was going on."

Union officials for the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers defended the officers' actions, saying that checking for drunken driving during a traffic stop is expected, especially prior to a three-day weekend.

"There hasn't been any repercussions," said acting Lt. Alex Garcia, chairman of the Oahu Chapter for SHOPO. "I haven't talked to the officers yet or Mufi, but they were just doing their job."

The mayor said last night that his wife had already paid the speeding ticket. Hannemann added that he did not call the chief to complain about the police officer's conduct and was merely discussing city policy.

"This is routine. He is a member of my Cabinet. ... That's what mayors do. We talk to our Cabinet members all the time."

Gail Hannemann said the call between her husband and Correa was "between the two of them."

"The mayor did what any professional would do and gave a courtesy call to a member of his Cabinet. ... That's how I viewed it. I think everyone was doing their job."