Mayor: Itâs unacceptable that HPD chief isnât âfront and centerâ on police shootings
Mayor: Itâs unacceptable that HPD chief isnât âfront and centerâ on police shootings By Lynn Kawano | April 23, 2021 at 6:20 PM HST - Updated April 23 at 6:25 PM
HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - Honoluluâs mayor is calling out the police chief for not being more transparent about the recent fatal officer involved shootings.
Mayor Rick Blangiardi said Honolulu Police Department Chief Susan Ballard is ignoring his requests for briefings on the two incidents this month.
âDespite my repeated attempts to contact Chief Ballard by telephone, she has failed to return my calls since last week Friday,â said Blangiardi. âChief Ballardâs failure to communicate is unacceptable.â
Police Union President Doesn t Want An HPD Chief From The Mainland - Honolulu Civil Beat
SHOPO President Malcolm Lutu wants the new police chief to be “local.” Reading time: 2 minutes.
As the Honolulu Police Commission launches a search for a new chief, the police union is pushing for the hire of someone from within the department – not the mainland.
Malcolm Lutu, president of the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers, made that clear to Honolulu City Council members during a committee meeting on Wednesday.
“I think we need to keep this local,” he said.
SHOPO President Malcolm Lutu and Mayor Rick Blangiardi have both expressed their desire to hire from within. Cory Lum/Civil Beat
The family of an unarmed Black man shot and killed by Honolulu police filed a wrongful death lawsuit Thursday alleging officers were motivated by racial discrimination.
• 3 hours ago Casey Harlow / HPR
The family of an unarmed Black man shot and killed by Honolulu police filed a wrongful death lawsuit Thursday alleging officers were motivated by racial discrimination.
Lindani Myeni, 29, walked into a Honolulu home, sat down and took off his shoes last week, prompting the occupants of the house to call 911, police said.
Less than two days later, police released two clips from responding officers body camera footage. In one brief clip, an officer is heard yelling for Myeni to get on the ground. Three shots ring out before an officer says, “police.”
In releasing the footage, Acting Deputy Chief Allan Nagata acknowledged officers didn’t identify themselves before shooting. But he said it was clear they were police, even in the dark.