FBI clears 1 officer in
cockfight scheme

The FBI has cleared one of six police officers being investigated for alleged involvement with illegal cockfighting, a police union official said.

The officer was cleared last week of wrongdoing by the FBI, and pending clearance from the Honolulu Police Department he will be permitted to return to work, said Alex Garcia, the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers Oahu Chapter chairman.

The FBI also made a second search of the Windward home of a different officer recently and seized firearms, sources said.

Receipts found during the first search indicated the officer owned a number of weapons, so they returned to his home with a second search warrant, sources said.

Federal agents raided various officers' homes in March and April.

SHOPO officials filed a grievance on behalf of the officers who were put on leave without pay after the investigation began. SHOPO officials said the investigation did not warrant placing them on unpaid leave.

The officers who have been under investigation include a 20-year-veteran Wahiawa patrol sergeant, two Windward Oahu District Crime Reduction Unit members -- a six-year veteran and another 20-year veteran -- and a vice officer with the gambling detail and 22 years on the force who has been on almost every police bust involved in cockfighting in recent years.