I belatedly realized what bothered me most about the recent testimony of SHOPO President Tenari Maafala, who told lawmakers during the recent special legislative session that he would never honor a law legalizing same-sex marriages.
Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and I was working as “senior advisor” to then-Honolulu City Councilmember Neil Abercrombie, our office received a number of complaints that Honolulu police officers were failing to pursue investigations of attacks on gay men in Waikiki. There seemed to be a culture of acceptance, sort of a “they deserve it because they’re gay” attitude prevailing among many officers on the street at that time.
As I recall, some complaints pointed to attitudes apparently taught to rookies as they learned the ropes of law enforcement in the district.
I have no idea whether these kinds of attacks are still a problem. I certainly hope not. But to the extent they still occur, Maafala’s attitude would certainly be consistent with a tendency to be less than vigorous in pursuing the attackers. Would that be tolerated among police officers on the street today? Again, I certainly hope not. But these public statements are certainly cause for real concern.
Does anyone track reports of such crimes? Any data, or even anecdotal evidence, available concerning current conditions?
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While I don’t recall any reports of ignored assaults on gay men during that time, I do clearly recall the prevailing attitude in some law enforcement communties about domestic violence. It was often dismissed as ” Hawaiian love”-a slur of many dimensions.
I had thought Big Island police had cleaned up their act well in this regard but I believe SHOPO set back community relations a quarter century with intolerable testimony.
When a cop says he will NOT obey obey the law, it is time for his retirement.
Who in the hell does that troglodyte think he is? Hey, jerk, it’s not up to you to decide which laws you’ll honor. Do you think I can spout that nonsense when I’m in court for a speeding ticket?
Serve and protect, or GTFO.
the level of homophobia increases (generally) the longer an officer has served on HPD. it has been said that new recruits who do not hide the fact that they are gay not longer are subjected to hazing or harassment these days. on the other issue, since the passage of the hate crimes sentence enhancement bill, theoretically these types of crimes should be tracked. but if they are not reported or when reported ignored, the data will not be collected. so if in the north shore, they are operating from a 80s mind-set, there would be no way to tell from the crime report data
More will be coming out about police incompetence and illegal actions soon enough.
Cops are suppose to support us… not work against us.
This has nothing to do w/ your post… just commenting now to be prepared for some incompetence reports coming from the Big Island soon enough.