Maui Police Chief John Pelletier’s claims that Mayor Richard Bissen is under criminal investigation are false allegations “in service of a political fight,” Maui County Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Martin said Tuesday.
Pelletier made the allegations after being placed on paid leave Wednesday by the Maui Police Commission, which is conducting an investigation into the chief’s oversight of the Criminal Intelligence Unit, whose former head was arrested and charged by federal authorities for public corruption.
On Friday, Pelletier claimed Bissen was the target of two criminal investigations and that Bissen pressured the commission to put him on leave because of those investigations.
In a detailed press release Tuesday, Martin pushed back against Pelletier’s comments, saying that not only were the claims untrue, but that they went against law enforcement practices of not naming the subjects of an investigation unless there is “probable cause to support an arrest or a charge.”
“Falsely naming someone as the target of a criminal investigation is bad enough, but coming from the head of a police department in service of a political fight, Chief Pelletier’s statement was a betrayal of public trust,” Martin said. “It harms the person accused. It harms the investigation. And it harms the public’s confidence that law enforcement uses its authority for justice, not for personal or political ends.”
The general election is less than three weeks away on Nov. 3, with Bissen seeking...
Maui Police Chief John Pelletier’s claims that Mayor Richard Bissen is under criminal investigation are false allegations “in service of a political fight,” Maui County Prosecuting Attorney Andrew ...