LIHU'E, Kaua'i — The Kaua'i Police Department is an institution in turmoil, fighting high violent crime rates, allegations of brutality and corruption, severe internal conflicts and a community's sense that it is no longer responding effectively to the island's needs.

There is no consensus on how to fix it, but many observers say the situation is critical and something needs to be done quickly.

"When you talk to the officers, it's pretty bad," said Mel Rapozo, chairman of the Kaua'i County Council's Public Safety Committee and a former policeman. "Every day that goes by without some intervention, it's getting worse."

A large group of officers plans to show up today at a police commission meeting to vent frustration with the management of the department, after a half-dozen appeared at the last commission meeting to support Chief K.C. Lum.

Retired police officer Wilfred Ihu, who served as interim police chief and deputy to former chief George Freitas, said he is saddened by the department's recent troubles.

"The factions — officer against officer — make me sick," he said.

The community does not even agree on what the main trouble is, but there are key suspects: a fractured, unmanageable department; a police chief with little management experience; a divided police commission; and a political interference that undermines internal lines of authority.

There is agreement, however, that the management problems are daunting. Employee grievances are up, officers are suing other officers, claims filed by residents alleging police misconduct have officials worried about the county's ability to pay them, and for the first time ever, the department overspent its budget.

The distractions are raising questions about the agency's effectiveness in fighting crime.

SMALLEST FORCE

All this is happening in the state's smallest police force, which has a long history of internal conflict. The department has 155 positions, of which 131 are currently filled.

Lum, who was named to his post in September, said he inherited a troubled organization, and that many of the legal claims against the police occurred before his tenure, during the administration of George Freitas, who was chief from 1995 to 2004.

Freitas had a tumultuous term, punctuated when several senior officers persuaded the Kaua'i Police Commission to place him on paid leave while they conducted a five-month investigation into a laundry list of infractions that included improper use of his police vehicle.

The most serious accusations were dismissed and Freitas eventually retired with a $200,000 payout from the county.

Freitas said he inherited difficulties, too. When he took over the department, officers were in federal court suing his predecessor, Calvin Fujita, for racial discrimination. The county prevailed in its defense of Fujita, who was police chief from 1984 to 1995.

Before Fujita, Roy Hiram had a 13-year run as chief — the longest in the past 30 years — but "even Hiram was under the gun. Even at that time, politics was trying to influence how the department should be run," Lum said.

Councilman Rapozo recalls the Kaua'i Police Department was divided by factions when he joined in 1984, but he said it's worse now.

"As far back as I can remember, there's been a split between rank-and-file and the officers. But never has it been that the men and women are fighting with each other. It has gotten so ugly. The wounds are so deep, I don't know how it's going to heal," he said.

LEADERSHIP QUESTION

As Kaua'i's top cop, Lum is getting the brunt of the blame. The chief appears to have few supporters in county government.

Rapozo, who admits he doesn't like Lum, said the chief is unqualified for the job.

"Leadership is probably the biggest problem right now," he said.

Other council members say Lum is unresponsive to them and does not appear to understand how significant his department's problems are.

"There's a total neglect of what your duties as an administrator are. I don't think he recognizes that there is a problem. We ask him and he says everything is fine," said Councilwoman Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho, a former deputy prosecutor.

Iseri-Carvalho, Rapozo and Council Chairman Kaipo Asing are leading the charge for a County Council investigation of the police department.

Lum and his department apparently have also lost the confidence of two community programs that normally work hand-in-hand with police.

CrimeStoppers, a Chamber of Commerce program that provides rewards for tips that help solve crimes, has effectively stopped functioning due to lack of police support, according to its former chairman, Roger Cable.

The Visitor Aloha Society of Kaua'i, which assists tourists who are crime victims, has received fewer and fewer calls for help with airline tickets, hotel accommodations and other matters. President Sue Kanoho said she doesn't know why more victims aren't being referred by police. "Other islands don't seem to have this same problem," she said.

Lum said he was surprised to hear that leaders of the two programs feel police cooperation is lacking. "I'm fully in support of those projects. It's a concern when I hear something like this. I will have to go double-check," he said.

DISGRUNTLED OFFICERS

One issue that has come up in several police administrations is the ease with which disgruntled officers in the small Kaua'i community can get a hearing outside the chain of command — from members of the Kaua'i Police Commission, the County Council or the Mayor's Office.

"The problem is that disgruntled employees have an open door to outside people. That needs to be stopped to avoid chaos," Lum said.

The appointment of retired police officers to the police commission has contributed to the problem, said attorney and former commission chairman Patrick Childs. Inevitably, former cops have existing alliances and friendships within the department, and this can short-circuit a command structure, he said.

Others say the officers are going outside normal channels with their complaints because normal channels aren't working.

"I don't think (Lum) has established himself as a person the officers respect," said Iseri-Carvalho, "and I don't think he came with the qualifications to do the job."

Lum's removal is one of several solutions that have been proposed to address the crisis at the Kaua'i Police Department. Others argue that tossing a new chief into the same dysfunctional system is a recipe for further instability.

Councilman Jay Furfaro has been promoting an "upward appraisal," in which consultants question police employees about the performance of their superiors and their work environment. He said the information can be used to put together an effective operating plan.

COMMISSION MEMBERS

Some funding for the appraisal has been approved, although Police Commission Chairwoman Carol Furtado said it is insufficient to complete the project.

Rapozo proposes removing the entire police commission and replacing it on a temporary basis with retired senior officers who would provide stability and leadership until the department gets back on an even keel.

Childs said emphatically that former police officers must be kept off the commission, since their friendships and associations with current personnel would inevitably interfere with the department's healing.

Regardless of whether Lum stays, Freitas said, Kaua'i police need outside assistance.

"If an organization is very ill, one thing to do is to think about bringing in some outside experts," he said.

Lum's fate lies with the five-member Police Commission, which has the authority to hire and fire the chief.

Only two of the members who voted to name him chief remain on the panel. One is Furtado and the other is Michael Ching. The other remaining member who participated in the vote, former police officer Leon Gonsalves, is on record as opposing Lum.

Two others are recent appointees, Russell Grady and Tom Iannucci, who have not voted on Lum's status.

If the commission majority decides to remove Lum, it will have to deal with the fact that he was given a five-year contract when he was hired last year.

Furtado said she is inclined to give the chief a chance.

"We've heard from both sides over the last few months. I think it's inherent in any large department that you're going to have factions, and coming from a management background, I know that any time you make changes, people are unhappy," Furtado said.

"I believe in his ability to move the department effectively, and I think we want to strive to give the chief whatever tools are needed to run the department."

But she later conceded the obstacles are formidable and discouraging. "Unless we — the administration, the community, the council and everybody else — unite in order to accomplish something, it's going to be difficult for this chief or any chief to succeed," Furtado said.

Lum used very similar terms, saying he won't be able to solve the problems without support.

"I need to change the culture, but it does require cooperation of the rest of the administration and the council. If I don't get that, I don't believe I can do it — nor can anybody else," he said.

Freitas said the situation is complex, and there has to be a sincere desire by all parties to work toward improvement.

"The first thing they've got to do is put everyone in the same room, and the people inside have to decide that the organization is more important than their own interests," he said. "People in that department need to start thinking about the police department first. Anger, frustration — it's time to set that aside for a while."

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com.