Honolulu settled police lawsuits for $1.1M
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By Peter Boylan
Advertiser Staff Writer
In the past five years, the city paid about $1 million to private citizens to settle a variety of lawsuits stemming from actions by police officers who have raided the wrong home, assaulted suspects, made false arrests and deprived citizens of their civil rights.
Between January 2002 and May 2007, the city paid out 30 settlements totaling $1.1 million, according to a review of city records. The records also show legal costs for fighting the lawsuits amounted to $837,599.92.
Honolulu is well behind many Mainland cities in the amount paid out for settlements. For example, the city of Portland paid $9.2 million to settle lawsuits against police officers and another $7,127,648.90 in legal fees over the same five-year period.
When asked about the cases that led to the $1.1 million in settlements, acting Honolulu Police Chief Paul Putzulu said the department has an exceptional training academy that teaches nationally accepted policies, procedures and tactics.
"Our policies and procedures meet or exceed national standards," Putzulu said. "Our training division received a separate and more extensive accreditation last March, and our recruit training is regarded by many Mainland departments as one of the most comprehensive in the country. Current officers are required to attend annual training to ensure they are kept up to date on policies, procedures and tactics."
City records detail a series of payouts for a variety of police actions. For example, in February 2004 the department's Specialized Services Division helped execute a search warrant on the wrong home.
SHOCKING INTRUSION
Paul and Ligor Pangelinan were shocked when SSD officers with automatic weapons drawn stormed into their living room.
The Pangelinans sued the Police Department and, rather than go to trial, the city settled for $27,000.
The Pangelinans could not be reached for comment.
On May 5, 2003, a Honolulu police officer told motorcycle shop owner Randy Wong that he couldn't store bikes and bike parts on the street fronting his shop in Kaka'ako. Wong was told by the officer that he had a certain amount of time to move his merchandise.
The officers returned well before the deadline, seized Wong's property, including motorcycles and spare parts and scrapped it, records show.
Wong sued, and the department settled with Wong for $50,000.
Wong could not be reached for comment.
"He was very happy (after the settlement) and the case was dismissed," said Wong's attorney, Jack F. Schweigert.
Other cases include:
The 30 settlements range in amount and severity, from $338 refunded to a resident who challenged a tow job in August 2003 to $650,000 awarded to a Honolulu Police Department employee in November 2000 by a judge who ruled the department violated the officer's civil rights.
AGGRESSIVE DEFENSE
While the city has had a number of these cases, they are small compared to some Mainland jurisdictions.
The city of Harvey, Ill., a suburb south of Chicago with a population of 30,197, paid $1.96 million to settle lawsuits against officers in 2004 and $1.4 million in 2005.
Honolulu lawyers working for the city say they fight hard to keep the city's money.
The city has shifted away from settling with plaintiffs and focuses on defending officers in court.
"If pursuing early settlement makes economic sense, we will do so," said Carrie K.S. Okinaga, city corporation counsel. "In the vast majority of cases, however, some amount of information-gathering and discovery must be done before we are interested in pursuing settlement; we will not take an opponent's word for it that the city is somehow at fault.
"With Mayor (Mufi) Hannemann emphasizing that we do not make decisions based on fear, and City Council advising our office that it would like to see us taking more cases to trial rather than settling, we have taken a more aggressive approach to defending lawsuits in general."
A $650,000 SETTLEMENT
Ronald F. Becker, an attorney and former Texas state trooper who is director of the Criminology and Criminal Justice program at Chaminade University, said a settlement is appropriate when warranted. However, the public should be careful not to judge the department for the actions of a few officers.
"It should be noted that in some instances the city gets exactly what it deserves," Becker said. "If lack of training, equipment or supervision causes harm to the public then the city should pay. That said, if it were left up to lawyers, any complaint would warrant a million-dollar verdict. Cops make mistakes; if the act in question is an accident that causes harm, then settlements are appropriate but also limited."
The majority of the settlement money in Honolulu, $869,000, was paid to settle civil lawsuits accusing Honolulu police officers of assault, brutality, unlawful detention, wrongful arrest, harassment, sexual harassment, unlawful use of pepper spray, deprivation of free speech and verbal abuse.
Of the $869,000 paid, $650,000 went to a former civilian employee who filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the department in 1997.
Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.
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