About 500 Honolulu police officers and their supporters rallied last night to protest Chief Boisse Correa's use of a policy that takes away police powers from an officer accused of wrongdoing.

      Hawaii Police Officers Gather With SHOPO

     

 

Hundreds of police officers gathered to discuss an HPD policy called ROPA.

 

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Gerald Quitugua, one of two officers charged with assault in a Taser incident Sept. 10 in Makakilo, said it took more than two months before he was cleared. In the meantime he was assigned to a desk job and drew base pay.

“;You shouldn't be held accountable if you didn't act maliciously,”; he said. “;I didn't act maliciously,”; he told the crowd at the Disabled American Veterans Hall near Keehi Lagoon.

Quitugua said the chief did not have enough information before invoking the Relief of Police Authority against him.

State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers President Tenari Maafala said the policy of ROPA was in existence during Honolulu Police Chiefs Michael Nakamura's and Lee Donohue's tenures, but it is the interpretation by Chief Boisse Correa that has gone beyond HPD's intended policy.

Many in the audience, like Quitugua, wore T-shirts that read, “;ROPA, Guilty Until Not Proven Guilty. No Gun, No Badge. Big Problem.”;

One 46-year-old officer with 26 years of service said he now has to second-guess his decisions to act, whereas he used to act on instinct.

“;What did we do to merit ROPA?”; one officer asked.

Maafala blamed Correa. He urged officers to report ROPA incidents to SHOPO because the administration has not informed the union when officers have been relieved of their police duties.

SHOPO has filed a prohibitive-practice case with the state labor board including 103 allegations.

An HPD spokesman said he could not comment last night.

David Leffler, an officer with the Maui Police Department, attended last night's meeting because he fears that the policy will spread to Maui.

He said Maui police call their current policy “;administrative leave”; when an officer's gun and badge are taken and the officer is assigned to a desk job. “;It's no problem in Maui. We use it seldomly,”; he said. HPD is using it often, Leffler added.

SHOPO members also voiced other concerns with management, including the possibility of changing how shifts are scheduled.

Mary Everett, a patrol officer in downtown Honolulu who attended with her two young daughters, said she fears so-called rotating shifts.

Her husband is deployed in Iraq, so she must care for her daughters at night. She is on day watch now, but “;if it does change, I'm going to leave the department,”; she said.

She also complained about the department's policy of not bringing in additional officers when people are out sick.

“;It's such a dangerous situation to work with only 70 percent staffing,”; Everett said.