In February 2024, Honolulu Police Department (HDP) Maj. Mike Lambert hand-delivered a memo to the assistant chief warning that officers were arresting sober drivers for DUI. In an audit, Lambert found 166 DUI arrests where drivers were later released without charges. This included 11 cases where officers claimed to smell alcohol in the car but not on the driver, which made field sobriety tests unjustified, according to the memo. Lambert urged the department to figure out whether this was bad training or intentional misconduct. Nothing happened. At least 82 more people were arrested and released with 0.00 breath tests in the months after the memo. And when reporters asked the HDP for a copy of the memo, the department claimed it didn’t have it.
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