ACLU demands change as Honolulu police investigate shooting

Jun. 28—The Honolulu Police Department has opened criminal and administrative investigations into how officers handled a barricade situation in Pearl City early Friday that ended when a 32-year-old man by police after he picked up an officer's unattended rifle and reportedly prepared to open fire after breaking into his ex-girlfriend's home.

The Honolulu Police Department has opened criminal and administrative investigations into how officers handled a barricade situation in Pearl City early Friday that ended when a 32-year-old man by police after he picked up an officer's unattended rifle and reportedly prepared to open fire after breaking into his ex-girlfriend's home.

HPD spokesperson Michelle Yu said in a statement Tuesday that none of the officers involved "have had their police authority restricted."

As with other recent shootings involving HPD officers, the Honolulu Department of the Prosecuting Attorney will conduct an independent investigation of the incident that left Nathaniel Filimoni Taualai dead.

"Questions about what has been described as an unattended rifle will be part of that investigation, " said Brooks Baehr, executive assistant for communications and community affairs under Prosecuting Attorney Steve Alm.

Mayor Rick Blangiardi was briefed Tuesday by Honolulu Police Chief Arthur "Joe " Logan on the fatal shooting, according to Scott Humber, Blangiardi's communications director.

"The mayor takes any use-of-force incident with the utmost seriousness, especially when a death occurs. This incident is still under investigation, and we will wait until the findings before making any additional comments, " Humber said.

The ongoing investigations raised questions among community advocates critical of gun violence and police tactics. The American Civil Liberties of Hawaii took issue with the incident in a scathing statement issued Tuesday that was directed at police, noting that according to data compiled by HPD, prosecutor reports, medical examiner records and news accounts, "this is the fifth fatal incident of police violence in the state this year."

ACLU of Hawaii Executive Director Scott Greenwood expressed concerns over HPD's "weapons security practices, policies on body-worn cameras, and the escalating incidence of police use of force across the state."

"The information released by HPD regarding this latest incident of deadly police violence on Oahu is alarming. There is no excuse for anyone gaining access to an unattended police weapon. It demonstrates an incredibly neglectful and reckless weapons security practice on the part of HPD, " said Greenwood in a statement.

Logan told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that HPD officers are trained to "respond to the actions taken by the individual, and deadly force is only used as a last resort."

"No officer wants to take another person's life, " he said. "Per department policy, criminal and administrative reviews have been initiated. An independent review of the incident is also being conducted by the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney."

The Honolulu Police Commission is preparing for a briefing on the incident at its meeting in July.

"The Police Commission takes seriously any use-of-force incident that results in a fatality. The chief has consistently briefed the commission on significant use-of-force incidents up to now, and I would expect him to do the same regarding the Pearl City incident at the proper time, " said commission Chair Doug Chin, a former city prosecutor, state attorney general and lieutenant governor.

Greenwood also called "extremely concerning " HPD's body-worn camera policies, referenced by Logan in a news conference Friday.

"The fact that HPD's Specialized Services Division (SSD ) officers 'do not carry /are not issued body-worn cameras' is a serious policy defect, " Greenwood said. "(Body-worn cameras ) aren't typically deployed on plainclothes detectives or undercover officers in other jurisdictions, even though they should be. However, most agencies' best practices require tactical unit officers to wear them."

While "not a panacea for eliminating unnecessary use of force " in dynamic situations, he said video footage from the cameras "is the best evidence of whether a particular response was both necessary and constitutional."

"Unless and until the footage from Friday's shooting is produced, we have zero information about whether the subject picking up an unattended rifle meant he was pointing it at anyone, " Greenwood said. "HPD created the opportunity for this to escalate and end the way it did."

In response Tuesday, HPD Lt. Robert Cavaco, president of the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers, said officers "put themselves in harm's way to protect a woman who told our officers that her ex-boyfriend broke into her home before dawn and verbally threatened her, her co-workers and law enforcement officers."

"It's unfortunate that the ACLU consistently refuses to see the pain and trauma inflicted upon the innocent when the actions of criminals go unchecked, or worse, when they are accepted, " Cavaco said. "The reality is that no number of cameras would have prevented this suspect from breaking into the home of his ex-girlfriend or barricading himself from both police and assistance, nor would they prevent him from picking up more weapons to threaten the lives of the innocent or our officers."

Taualai was pronounced dead at the scene of Friday's shooting, which followed a report of a burglary shortly after 4 a.m. at the woman's Pearl City residence and later a fire at the home on the 1600 block of Kalauipo Street.

The woman was not at the residence, but saw Taualai on the feed from a home security system and called 911, police said.

When police arrived at about 4 :10 a.m., she told officers that Taualai—who was 5-foot-11 and weighed 220 pounds—had threatened to shoot her co-workers and police officers, according to HPD. She also told police she had a temporary restraining order against him.

At about 6 :30 a.m., as smoke spewed from the bedroom window of the home, Taualai ran out holding two knives and entered a residence next door, going upstairs to the back balcony, where officers with the Specialized Services Division were setting up and where Taualai found the unattended rifle.

Taualai, who told officers at the start of the standoff that he was not going to jail, grabbed the weapon and was holding it when the officers returned to the balcony, according to HPD.

The rifle belonged to a Specialized Services Division officer who had been seeking a vantage point to cover his fellow officers. Why it was left unattended and how Taualai got hold of it is part of the ongoing investigations.

HPD said that when police returned to the balcony and saw Taualai point the rifle at them, one officer opened fire, followed by a second officer who fired from a neighbor's yard and a third officer who shot from the bottom of the stairs.

Logan said the three officers are on administrative leave per department policy.

One of the Specialized Services officers has three years of experience, and a second has 16 years on the job, while a patrol officer also involved in the shooting has been with the department 18 years.