Four officers from the Hawaiian Department of Law Enforcement have been arrested in the last nine days as part of an investigation into alleged incidents of racial harassment.
William Gary, 46, was arrested on Thursday for alleged harassment and later released pending further investigation, KITV reports.
The arrest of Gary, who worked in the agency’s airport division, follows the arrest on Wednesday of deputy sheriff William K Keahi, 40, on alllegations of reckless endangerment and harassment.
Keahi also worked in the airport division, and allegedly ordered a Black officer to rush into airport traffic and make a dangerous stop at Daniel K Inouye airport, sources told Hawaii Civil Beat.
Two others were also recently arrested as part of the investigation, including sergeant Eric Mitamura, 40, and Alvin Turla, 47, members of the Capitol Central Division.
They were arrested after allegedly making racist remarks about fried chicken to a Black deputy sheriff during a training exercise, Hawaii News Now reports.
“It apparently has been going on for months, but it was not brought to our attention until the latter part of May,” Jordan Lowe, director of the Department of Law Enforcement, told the station on Thursday.
“That type of behavior will not be tolerated. When you look at here we are in 2024, it’s somewhat disheartening,” he added.
At least three of the arrested men have been released pending further investigation and placed on administrative leave.
They have not been convicted of any crimes or appeared in court.
Another five officers are on leave amid an unrelated criminal and administrative trove, according to Lowe.
