ACLU OF HAWAI‘I DEMANDS THAT HONOLULU POLICE DEPARTMENT END UNCONSTITUTIONAL DUI CHECKPOINT ARRESTS

News Release from ACLU Hawaii, Nov 4, 2024

HONOLULU, HI – Today, the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai‘i (“ACLU of Hawaiʻi”) sent a letter to the Honolulu Police Department (“HPD”) demanding an investigation, policy changes, and training regarding unconstitutional arrests by HPD officers for “Operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant” (“DUI”) based in part on a November 2023 DUI checkpoint arrest of client Ammon Fepuleai.

The letter alleges that, on November 7, 2023, HPD officers conducted a traffic stop on Mr. Fepuleai—an American Samoa resident who identifies as māhū—at a sobriety checkpoint in Waipio. While Mr. Fepuleai was still sitting in his car, the officer who conducted the initial portion of the stop stated he detected the odor of alcohol and insisted that Mr. Fepuleai take a field sobriety test. Mr. Fepuleai agreed. The officer then asked Fepuleai to take a breathalyzer test. Mr. Fepuleai—who does not drink or do drugs—blew a 0.000. But rather than letting Mr. Fepuleai return to his family, officers said they now suspected he was on drugs. Officers then arrested Mr. Fepuleai for DUI.

Watch Mr. Fepuleai tell his story: https://vimeo.com/1025569557/ff0864feae

Mr. Fepuleai’s story is part of a troubling trend of HPD officers arresting drivers despite blowing 0.000 on breathalyzer tests.  As Hawaii News Now has reported, in the past couple years, 69 people have been arrested for DUI, even though they blew 0.00.

The letter says that the officers improperly instructed Mr. Fepuleai on aspects of the field sobriety tests and misrepresented his performance on them in their police reports. The letter also says these misrepresentations are contradicted by recordings from the officers’ body-worn cameras. For example, officers stated in their reports that Mr. Fepuleai was having trouble concentrating, had “delayed responses to . . . questions,” “had a difficult time focusing,” was acting “confused,” and had “bloodshot,” “watery” eyes. But the ACLU of Hawaiʻi says body camera videos show that none of this was true.

The letter also states that officers tried to conceal their plan to falsely arrest Mr. Fepuleai by turning off their body camera videos at key moments, even though HPD policy requires that cameras remain on during an investigation. Most notably, one officer turned his camera off before driving Mr. Fepuleai to the Pearl City police station after his arrest. Mr. Fepuleai states that, during this drive, the officer improperly persuaded him to deny the chemical tests and bail out, emphasizing this was the easiest route to take. But the letter alleges the officer did so without informing Mr. Fepuleai that this choice entailed making a legal admission that he was inebriated. As a result, Mr. Fepuleai’s driver’s license was revoked for a month.

In addition to alleging that the individual officers involved may be liable for unconstitutionally arresting Mr. Fepuleai—and fabricating the basis for the arrest—the letter claims that the City and County of Honolulu itself may be liable for having a policy or practice of encouraging or failing to address false DUI arrests.

The letter demands that HPD (1) thoroughly and impartially investigate Mr. Fepuleai’s arrest, and take meaningful disciplinary action against the officers involved; (2) end its policy and practice of unconstitutionally arresting drivers at sobriety checkpoints; (3) implement policies, practices, procedures, trainings, and other measures to ensure that HPD officers (a) conduct sobriety checkpoint stops fairly, impartially, and lawfully, and (b) comply with HPD’s body-worn camera policy; and (4) expunge all records related to Mr. Fepuleai’s arrest.

Mr. Fepuleai said: “By telling my story, I hope to ensure that the officers who traumatized and embarrassed me are held accountable, but I also hope my speaking up will ensure that policy reforms are made that will prevent other innocent individuals from being falsely arrested and manipulated by HPD in the future.”

ACLU of Hawaiʻi Legal Director, Wookie Kim, said: “Mr. Fepuleai’s false arrest for DUI—and the disturbing pattern it is a part of—raises concerns about how HPD is running its DUI checkpoints, and suggests HPD is pressuring its officers to make false arrests to pad statistics and justify overtime pay for sobriety checkpoints. We demand that HPD change its policies so that individuals like Mr. Fepuleai, and other vulnerable community members, never have to go through the trauma of a false arrest again.”

The demand letter is available here: https://www.acluhi.org/sites/default/files/2024.11.04_-_hpd_dui_checkpoint_demand_letter_final.pdf.

The ACLU of Hawaiʻi encourages any individuals who believe they may have been falsely arrested at DUI checkpoints to contact our Legal program. By sharing your story, you can help us hold police accountable and ensure justice for those impacted by these actions. Please reach out here: https://www.acluhi.org/en/request-legal-assistance.

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