Tatum family argues with police chief over alleged misconduct

Video by David Corrigan, voice of Tim Bryan

Hawaii County Police Chief Harry Kubojiri joined the island’s top cops at the Cooper Center in Volcano, for a community meeting on Tuesday, April 20th.

Most of the residents in attendance had marijuana on their minds, and complained to the police department that their enforcement of the Peaceful Sky ordinance is too strict.

The police chief stressed that the department has no money budgeted for marijuana eradication, and said they are not assisting with any current eradication efforts that may be underway on the island.

Wolf Daniel Braun, president of the Peaceful Sky Alliance, asked Kubojiri if he testified against state legislation to decriminalize personal use of marijuana. The chief said that he did travel to Oahu to make his opposition to the bills known to state representatives.

The Tatum family, who have accused the police department of criminal behavior during a marijuana raid on their home a few years ago, engaged the Chief in a debate over their incident.

The Hawaii Tribune-Herald reports that David Tatum was sentenced to 30 days in jail for the commercial promotion of marijuana. One officer was disciplined by former Police Chief Lawrence Mahuna following an internal investigation but was not charged with any crimes.

Despite the outrage from marijuana advocates, the meeting remained civil, and many residents in the audience thanked the police department for all their hard work.

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