Emotions rise as commission reviews complaints against chief

Before the Maui Police Commission met in closed session Wednesday on complaints against Police Chief John Pelletier, some took issue with “victimbashing” comments made by members of an advisory group created by the chief.

“As a woman, I am shocked that in this day and age, after the MeToo movement, after women have fought for equal rights for years, that public shaming of victims still exists,” Melissa Magonigle wrote in testimony submitted for the meeting. “It’s sickening.

“It takes strength and courage to speak up, and victims should not feel that they will be publicly shamed and revictimized over and over again by members of their own community and by members of the Maui Police Commission.”

Magonigle, Maui Police Department business administrator who submitted testimony and spoke on her own time, referred to testimony at an Aug. 3 commission meeting by members of the MPD Multi-Cultural Advisory Counsel.

Eight county employees have filed complaints against Pelletier and members of his executive staff, alleging a hostile workplace, including harassment in the workplace and gender discrimination, according to information provided to the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers. Five of the complaints were made by women and three were made by men.

After meeting for about an hour in a closed executive session Wednesday, the commission set a special meeting for 9 a.m. Sept. 7.

At the Police Commission’s meeting Aug. 3, Chuck Spence, co-chair of the MPD Multi-Cultural Advisory Counsel, said “it is a known fact that MPD was and is full of corruption.”

“And thank God the commission heard the plea of the community and brought in a chief from outside this county and not from the old guard,” Spence said. “But the bad seeds have not yet all been ripped out from the soil of this department. They’re trying to rise up again and regain control. These ‘unprecedented’ number of complaints against the chief are an obvious coordinated effort led by employees who once ran their game unimpeded under previous administrations.

“I can tell you from my knowledge that this is a coordinated effort to bury this great chief. This effort began before they even met Chief Pelletier.”

Magonigle questioned how Spence would “even know who the complainants are to accuse them of such insults.”

“He’s obviously not aware of the suffering and trauma that victims of violence endure,” she said.

She asked commissioners to “look at the date of the complaints.”

“These are separate areas, separate items,” she said. “Please address violence against women in the workplace.”

Under county guidelines, employees who file such complaints are advised not to discuss them until investigations are concluded. “After such conclusion, it is best to refrain from discussing the incident as a simple matter of respect and to protect the privacy of all parties involved,” according to a notice sent to those who have filed complaints.

At the meeting Wednesday, MPD Sgt. James Terry said there are disgruntled employees “anytime there’s a change in administration.”

He said there has been a 5 to 10 percent decrease in morale in previous administrations.

“The changes that the chief are making is positive,” he said. “You cannot vet the progress within the first 18 months.”

Officer Marvin Tevaga said morale issues in the department differ “from section to section and district to district.”

“I just want us to give them a chance because in seven months, they’ve done a lot,” he said.

Magonigle said morale issues are different from issues being raised in the complaints.

“Violence in the workplace is not a morale issue,” she said. “Harassment is not a morale issue. Cursing at employees should not be part of police culture.”

Leslee Matthews, an attorney and social worker, was a county deputy prosecuting attorney when she filed a violence in the workplace complaint in 2020 against Don Guzman, who was county prosecuting attorney at the time. The county hired an outside investigator in September 2020 who concluded that Guzman had violated county workplace violence rules.

Mayor Michael Victorino placed Guzman on administrative leave without pay Sept. 15, 2020, and fired him on Oct. 19, 2020.

After news about the complaint surfaced, Matthews said people would tell her, “We are here for you, we have your back, we’re sorry for what’s happening.”

“And I always said for every person that’s said they were sorry, I wish just one person would come and have my back and stand in support of me,” she said. “And so I want to stand in support of the people who are saying there’s violence in the workplace because I know that it can happen.

“I’m not speaking to the merits of this current situation, but I will say that we need to believe women.”

Sgt. Justin Mauliola, speaking during his time off from work, said that when he was accused of harassment in the workplace by another employee, “I was immediately removed from my section pending investigation.”

“I was also disciplined for a one-time workplace disagreement,” he said. “And this is under county rules, MPD general orders, zero tolerance for harassment.

“People are just tired of this workplace, this toxic work environment,” he said. “Unless something changes, unfortunately it’s going to end up affecting the community. We can focus on certain crimes, we can focus on certain areas. But if we’re not taking care of our own health, not taking care of what’s happening inside, that’s all going to fall apart eventually. I would just like to encourage this commission to do something ’cause things are going to fall apart in this department.”

Cristy Pelletier said those making accusations against her husband “should be ashamed of yourself.”

“I’m so sad for you if you can look yourself in the mirror every morning and go about your day thinking what you’re doing is OK,” she said.

Pelletier said her family “has endured so many ugly complaints, false accusations” for the past eight months.

“Now the false accusations that my husband is threatening females, violence in the workplace, I would really love to hear their accusations saying what my husband has done as far as violence,” she said. “If you think f—- is a violent word, I understand that. That is not OK. Use a different word.

“But under the terms he used it by saying, ‘I don’t want another f—-ing officer on the wall from fallen officers shot in the line of duty or hurt in the line of duty.’ It’s passion. We’ve seen too many officers lose their life in the line of duty.”

She said any female officers that Pelletier has worked with in the past 22 years “would say that John is the least violent person and the most pro-female officer that they know.”

“I cannot believe these things are being said, this hatred is being spewed,” she said. “And these people are making accusations to make my husband look like a monster.”