A correction is necessary to my recent post here, “It could have been a simple traffic ticket, Part 2.” The post was later reprinted by Civil Beat (“The Miske Files: An Officer Gets Caught In The Crossfire“).

The original version of this story incorrectly reported in the very last sentence that the police officers’ union had successfully challenged his termination. That was factually incorrect.

Mahalo to Michelle Wu from HPD’s Media Liaison Office, for calling the error to my attention.

It has been corrected (as shown below), with a similar correction at Civil Beat.

In May 2021, three year after Lee’s termination by HPD, an arbitrator denied a grievance filed on his behalf by the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers, and allowed his dismissal to stand.

The arbitrator acknowledged Lee’s exemplary performance record in more than 20 year as a police officer, but determined the department’s action had not been arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable, and she had no authority to second-guess the department’s decision absent “compelling evidence” that it had abused its discretion.

Lee said he is now retired with full benefits, which were not affected by the ruling.