Last week, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser published a column by the president of SHOPO, the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers, the statewide police union.
In the column, Sgt. Malcolm Lutu accuses the media of “extraordinary” bias against police officers by focusing on cases of “unacceptable conduct” and ignoring events that portray officers in a positive light.
Officers don’t get praised in the media for doing their job or going above and beyond their assigned duty. An example: our officers’ assistance with cases of mental illness that plague our parks and sidewalks. In fact, on Oct. 13, Honolulu police officers were recognized for the work done in the Homeless Outreach and Navigation for Unsheltered Persons program.
There wasn’t media coverage of this event, which would have drawn attention to the growing issues of homelessness and how officers are stepping up. Instead, we see headlines that are based on anonymous sources or “experts” who have no clue to the subject matter of the policing profession. We see body-camera video that provides glimpses into a scene rather than tell the full story. We see headlines that spark conspiracy theories instead of investigative facts.
I have a certain amount of sympathy for this viewpoint. However, the problem is one largely of SHOPO’s own making.
As they say, “You reap what you sow.”
And for well over 40 years, SHOPO has carried out a scorched-earth strategy in pursuit of a special form of enhanced “privacy” for police officers that for decades successfully denied the public basic information about misconduct by police officers. SHOPO’s strategy included extensive public relations campaigns and costly and repetitive court battles, underscored by more than $275,000 in campaign contributions to candidates for state and county offices.
The result, until a recent, far-reaching decision by the Hawaii Supreme Court, was that the public was denied access to information necessary to know how widespread problems are within the various police departments, or to distinguish between officers who commit serious violations of law or policy, and those who faithfully carry out their duties.
And over those decades, SHOPO’s focused its energies on a full court press to block disclosure of disciplinary findings, and its “right” to leave the public in the dark.
It was SHOPO that so sharply defined what it considered the overriding interest in avoiding public scrutiny of the actions of any and all police officers accused of misconduct.
SHOPO itself put relatively few resources into showcasing the positive examples of policing, perhaps due in part to the awkwardness of promoting some officers for their positive contributions to the community, while expending most of its resources on actively protecting those accused of misconduct.
Considering this history, it appears to me the SHOPO claim of extreme media “bias” is misdirected.
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Is this the kind of positive thing we should be focusing on?
The head of Hawaii’s police union, Tenari Maafala, testified against the gay marriage bill Monday afternoon, saying he would never enforce such a law.
“You would have to kill me,” he told a panel of House lawmakers hearing Senate Bill 1.
Maafala is president of the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers and an officer with the Honolulu Police Department.
Hi Ian,
I think you make a good point. Over the years, SHOPO has so vigorously and aggressively defended police officers who may have transgressed, that they have squashed access to information so we don’t know who or what happened. And, as you say, OTOH, they haven’t publicized when police officers have gone beyond the call to perform good deeds, as indeed they do often, to a similar extent. Transparency would allow us to see the truth. It’s gotten to the point where I don’t take SHOPO’s interpretation of events seriously because I think it’s all some kind of cover-up. They do police a disservice.
It’s difficult feel respect for SHOPO. Their priorities are miscues. They don’t hold themselves to high standards.
Oh, boo-hoo. No one showed up to Malcolm’s pony show.
People MIGHT start to give a tiny damn if law enforcement, peace officers, and jailers would…
> ditch qualified immunity;
> embrace being just like every other State employee;
> stop believing that they are the judge, jury, and executioner;
> make self-control a priority and use weapons as a last resort;
> stop trying to guilt us for sympathy. Ex: Malcolm said that the officers are “people who are risking their lives and the welfare of their families to ensure that our communities are protected.” Guess what? Your officers know the risks BEFORE they sign up.
I am not a fan of SHOPO and their history of shielding the public from information…and the Police Dept for doing the same. However, The Police Administration/management needs to be separated from the boots on the ground average Joe cops. There are a couple of bad apples, but others have been put in a bad light by the media without sharing the full story many times. And to have an opportunistic police-hater like Professor Ken Lawson be called an “expert” by the media adds a ton of fuel to the bias argument.
Cops in HNL get paid E X T R A if they “behave” and don’t get into trouble. Show me a job that gets THAT kind of benefit?!?!
In addition to everything Brie wrote above.
Couple of “bad apples”?? How about our favorite serial woman beater Sgt Darren Cachola? DUI hit & run perpetrator (covered up by his buddies) who ended up shooting the South African fellow, Officer Brent Sylvester?? The cops in Waianae that recently forced the car full of people off the road and then RAN AWAY (caught on video) only to return pretending they were first time responding?? HPD Officer Travis Copeland the insurance fraudster who staged a burglary of his own home and then burned his Mercedes but GOT CAUGHT??
I’m sorry but SHOPO and SHOPO’s arrogance does not make me sympathetic to the cause.
Insights into SHOPO leadership’s midset and image concerns are found on the SHOPO website shared by SHOPO President Lutu:
It is my honor to represent Hawaii’s Police Officers as the President of the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers (SHOPO). Since 2001, I have been involved with the Union, first as a Director at Large, then as Vice President, under now retired President Tenari Ma’afala.
We have made great strides as a union under the direction of President Ma’afala and through his leadership he has made SHOPO, i.e. Police, the highest paid group of county employees in the State of Hawaii, indirectly affecting all public employees’ pay raises. As union officials, we have learned how to be humble with our administrators, but firm when we need to, and negotiate with a win-win mindset. With this, we are grateful for our past five (5) contracts.
Our jobs are always evolving with each passing year and technology plays a big part of it. Computers, body cameras, and science have all been introduced into our careers. Like it or not, these tools are here to stay.
We shall continue on the path that has been set for us. As we move forward, my vision includes additional legal protections for its members, such as representation at critical incident scenes. As mentioned, law enforcement has changed and safeguards are necessary in defense of unjustified litigations brought on by doing one’s job. It’s on the mainland and it’s just a matter of time when frivolous accusations will cost Hawaii’s members undue discipline, or overzealous politicians will play a part in forcing a member into unnecessary litigation.
Renovating the Union’s Honolulu headquarters and updating its computer and communication systems is ongoing to better serve the membership. In today’s data-hungry age, accessibility and dissemination of critical and useful information to union members needs to be instantaneous. This is accomplished with technology, union officials, and your support all working in concert together.
It is up to us as a union to keep up with change, make sure that our members are safe, know their rights, are well-trained, policies are well-written, and there is fairness for all. Your State Board, the Honolulu, Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai Chapter Boards of Directors, Shop Stewards, and staff are working proactively, having open communication with our administrations and politicians across our state, to protect your hard-earned rights, wages, and benefits, and to improve working conditions. https://shopohawaii.org/
Ian, you’re an experienced journalist. What drives readership? Is it when a group of officers go about their duties responsibly, day after day, or when one or a group is involved the death or serious injury of a civilian?
I.e., Lutu may have unrealistic expectations of the media.
He and his membership should also be aware that, thanks in large part to the actions of former Chief Kealoha and his accomplices, everyone is aware that not all cops are upstanding, and any wrongdoing on their part is going to not only be under increased scrutiny, but cumulatively adds to the scrutiny that he perceives as anti-cop bias.
Is t this true for so many other professions. Do we hear about great bus drivers or when they are involved in an accident? Elected politicians are able to generate some food press for themselves, by still a good chunk of what we hear is when they say or so dumb/illegal things. I know more about Greene’s behavior in Congress than I know about the Hawaii reps.