‘Stop arresting innocent people!’: Hawaii cops face lawsuit for purposeful false arrests

The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii (ACLU) has filed a class-action lawsuit against the Honolulu Police Department (HPD). The lawsuit accuses HPD of repeatedly arresting sober drivers without legal justification, which is a crime. According to the lawsuit, HPD officers are making these arrests without proper evidence, motivated by a desire to increase DUI arrest numbers in order to secure funding and meet what appear to be quotas.

The lawsuit claims that HPD supervisors encourage this behavior by offering incentives to officers. Specifically, night shift officers are allegedly allowed to go home early while still getting paid for their full shift if they make a DUI arrest. The ACLU argues that this reward system pushes officers to skip proper investigations and arrest people even when there is no clear proof they were impaired.

The ACLU states that over the past few years, “scores” of drivers have been arrested despite showing no signs of being drunk, passing field sobriety tests, and having a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.000. Between 2022 and 2024, HPD arrested 127 people with a 0.000 BAC for driving under the influence. Out of these, only 15 were given traffic tickets, and just three were charged with driving under the influence of drugs. The rest were arrested and left with a DUI record, even though they were completely sober.

Hawaii police sued for false charges

The lawsuit describes cases where drivers were pulled over for minor traffic violations or at sobriety checkpoints without any indication of impaired driving. As an example, the ACLU points to three arrests made on August 31, 2024, all at the same location within 20 minutes. Breath tests showed each driver had a 0.000 BAC. The ACLU says this proves that arrests are being made to meet quotas rather than because of actual evidence.

Jeremy O’Steen, attorney working with ACLU Hawaii said, “each of our clients blew a 0.000. None of them were intoxicated. Yet they endured lasting damage to their records, their reputation, traumatic arrests, and unlawful detention. What we are demanding today is simple: Stop arresting innocent people. Stop manipulating the system.”

Three plaintiffs are named in the lawsuit, representing hundreds of others in similar situations. One of them, Tanner Pangan, was a high school senior who was arrested. He was stopped after his truck slid on a wet road, but tests confirmed he had no alcohol or drugs in his system. Despite this, he was arrested for DUI.

While we’ve seen officers respond to customers at Hertz and show up unannounced at a home, it’s hard to remember the last time this kind of thing happened. It’s hard to imagine a way the police can excuse this action.

The ACLU argues that HPD’s actions are unconstitutional and illegal, violating the rights of many innocent people. The lawsuit does not ask for money as compensation. Instead, it asks the court to officially declare that HPD’s practices are unconstitutional and illegal and to stop the arrests of innocent drivers.

In response to the lawsuit, HPD said it takes the accusations seriously and has started a full review of all impaired driving arrests since 2021. HPD also stated it would investigate the cases of the three named plaintiffs internally, promising to maintain public trust and take action if any wrongdoing is found. The review will examine every DUI arrest made during that time, regardless of BAC results.