Not surprisingly, Civil Beat’s Sunshine Blog took another look at the continuing failure of the Honolulu Police Department and the Honolulu Police Commission to provide the level of transparency and accountability common in police departments elsewhere in the country.

Today’s Sunshine Blog column reported on the discussion of the department’s current attempt to renew its accreditation by Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) at a recent meeting of the police commission. But while introducing the matter of accreditation, HPD cut off any potential for substantive discussion of CALEA standards by refusing to answer any questions, claiming they are proprietary and, therefore, confidential.

So the public is supposed to be satisfied with the department claim to be complying with secret standards that are not subject to public review or comment?

An old friend, Jahan Byrne, appeared by telephone at the commission meeting to comment on his three decades of efforts to bring some sunshine to HPD’s policies and standards, first as a student at UH Manoa, and now 30 years later as a business executive living in Oakland.

Civil Beat then took the initiative and dispatched a reporter to look at a copy of the CALEA standards (available at HPD with the requirement that no notes can be taken and no copies made), according to the Sunshine Blog. The reporter, Caitlin Thompson, then contacted the CALEA program manager for the region that includes Hawaii, who flatly denied HPD’s claim that the standards are confidential and can’t be made public.

This descended into mutual finger pointing, with HPD trying to avoid responsibility for complying with the Sunshine Law by kicking all questions back to CALEA, while CALEA denying it requires HPD to keep the public from seeing what “best practices” the department says it will be complying with.

And the commission? Although a couple of members expressed skepticism about HPD’s shuck and jive routine, there was no indication the commission was ready to put its collective foot down and demand direct answers from HPD.

It this going to continue for another 30 years?