KPD Blue- Chapter 25 : After the Purge is Over

KPD Blue

By Anthony Sommer

Chapter 25 : After the Purge is Over

When Lum resigned, Lt. Clayton Arinaga became acting chief.

Arinaga had been publicly critical of both Lum and Venneman.

He was one of the leaders of the old guard.

Arinaga is a graduate of Kapaa High School, a diploma neither Lum nor George Freitas ever could nail on their
office wall.

Arinaga chose Lt. Gordon Isoda, another old guard stalwart, as his acting deputy.

The department had been cast back into the Dark Ages where terms like “diversity” and “Constitutional rights” couldn’t be found in the KPD vocabulary. And that’s just where Baptiste and the County Council seem to want the KPD.

As usual, the whole show was scripted in advance and the outcome assured.

Arinaga said he didn’t want the permanent appointment, so the County Council coughed up even more money to patch up the police department: $50,000 for a head-hunter firm to come up with candidates.

Nothing gets done in Kauai County government unless it goes to an expensive outside consultant or lawyer. And, since the consultant or lawyer never is from Kauai, there is a message there somewhere about the lack of competency in Kauai County.

In July, 2007, the recruiting company, after searching the entire planet (perhaps even the entire solar system), sent Kauai County its list of recommendations.

The three finalists included former HPD Major and Kauai native Darryl Perry.

(Picture caption)
Darryl Perry, a Kauai native and retired Honolulu Police Department major, was the choice of the Mayor Bryan Baptiste, the County Council and the middle management of KPD to replace Chief George Freitas, who was forced out by Baptiste. The Police Commission chose K.C. Lum instead. So, Mayor Bryan Baptiste used his Ethics Commission to get rid of the Police Commission chairman who supported Lum and then declared Lum’s contract was invalid. Once the chief ’s office was vacant, Perry got the job.

The important thing to know about consultants hired by politicians is they have to agree to arrive at the conclusions the politicians want before they begin their study. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be hired.

This is the same Darryl Perry who was a finalist when Lum was selected chief. The same Darryl Perry who is a close friend of Leon Gonsalves. The same Darryl Perry who was born on Kauai and was graduated from Kauai High School. The same Darryl Perry who had briefly served on KPD but spent most of his police career in Honolulu.

A month later, Perry was appointed chief by a police commission stacked with Bryan Baptiste appointees.

The decade-long circle had closed. The KPD again had a local chief. And no one is interested in discussing racism and sexism in the department.

In fact, Mayor Baptiste again rewarded racist comments.

After the County Council refused to honor Bryan Baptiste’s bogus request that they fire Gonsalves from the Kauai Police Commission, Gonsalves served out the remainder of his term.

Then Police Commissioner Gonsalves was re-appointed, by Baptiste, to a second term. Wasn’t this the same guy Baptiste had asked the Council to remove during his initial term? No one on the Council asked.

And there was no mention of Hop Sing or Little Joe when the Council approved Gonsalves’s second term.