The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii filed a lawsuit Thursday alleging that a Honolulu police arrest of a sober man at a sobriety checkpoint has led them to an investigation showing similar instances of police misconduct in the Aloha State to meet quotas, The Washington Post reported Saturday.
On Nov. 7, 2023, Ammon Fepuleai was arrested at a sobriety checkpoint after blowing 0.00 and passing a field sobriety test. After looking into Fepuleai's case, the ACLU of Hawaii said it found 127 other cases of people from 2022-24 who also blew a 0.00. Roughly nine in ten were not charged with a crime or traffic violation.
"The bottom line is this totally undermines the public's trust in law enforcement — not to mention that false arrests are unconstitutional," the ACLU of Hawaii's legal director, Wookie Kim, said.
The Honolulu Police Department said it's taking the allegations "very seriously" and conducting a comprehensive review of DUI arrests dating back to 2021.
The department is also taking it upon itself to conduct an internal investigation into the arrests in regard to the lawsuit's other two plaintiffs, Sarah Poppinga and Tanner Pangan.
"We are dedicated to upholding public trust and will take appropriate action should any misconduct be found," the police department said in a statement.
The lawsuit suggested that officers were encouraged to prioritize arrests over accuracy because higher arrest numbers secured funding for the department from federal highway safety grants. It also suggested that some officers benefited from the arrests, such as being able to leave their shift early while still getting paid for a full day.
The culture at the department has fostered an "egregious and longstanding pattern of arresting people ... without probable cause and/or without due process," the lawsuit argued.
Nick Koutsobinas ✉
Nick Koutsobinas, a Newsmax writer, has years of news reporting experience. A graduate from Missouri State University’s philosophy program, he focuses on exposing corruption and censorship.
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