KAHULUI (HawaiiNewsNow) – The Maui Police Commission heard passionate testimony Wednesday about concerns about transparency at the Maui Police Department, as well as how human remains were handled after the Lahaina wildfire.

HNN Research sources confirmed that the president of Common Cause Hawaii received numerous messages throughout the night, including threats of violence and racial slurs.

These apparent threats may explain why program director Camron Hurt did not attend Wednesday’s Maui Police Commission meeting. leading a public campaign for transparency.

Several dozen people attended. Many people stayed in the hall because there was not enough space in the hall.

Whistleblower Greyson Abarra, owner of Gray Tech LLC and MPD’s former morgue contractor, was the first to testify.

“The Maui Police Department, an agency intended to uphold the highest ideals of service and protection, has floundered under the weight of a lack of leadership. “Public responses from the chief’s office gloss over critical issues and ignore the real consequences of omissions, actions, and inactions that cause further suffering for those who have lost loved ones, leave families in agonizing uncertainty, and traumatize the community,” he said.

The released records, along with MPD depositions and eyewitness accounts, reveal the many recovery processes and procedures critical to accurately documenting the scene of a person’s death and keeping those remains separate so they are not lost or confused with other remains. t followed

HNN Research confirmed:

• Identification numbers that must be provided immediately upon discovery of a victim not assigned until remains were moved at least two different times.
• In all cases, crime scene photographs and GPS coordinates could not be obtained.
• MPD leadership acknowledges instances where body bags were not used to transport deceased from their final resting places.

In addition, Emails obtained by HNN Investigates, Additional bones of a fire victim were found three weeks after MPD deposited the man’s remains at the morgue. According to those emails, the newly discovered bones are indistinguishable from the remains of other victims, something his family says they were never told.

Maui Police Commission Chair Stacey Moniz asked Abarra: “Why did you wait so long to bring these concerns to the community?”

Abarra said, “I didn’t. “I immediately reported this through the appropriate channels.”

“After the operation with the police department?” Moniz asked.

“True,” Abarra replied. “Throughout the entire process, as I said, all reports of misuse were ignored.”

Moniz asked, “Did you tell this to the Attorney General’s Office when they took action later?” he asked.

Abarra responded: “I also reached out to the attorney general’s office, the lieutenant governor’s office, the Maui County Council, and many other platforms.”

“I was the chairman at the time the fires occurred and I never received any communication from you,” Commissioner Frank De Rego Jr. said.

Abarra said the contract was under confidentiality until June 17. “That’s when my contract was exempt from the convenience clause,” he explained.

At one point Moniz asked: “If you were there every step of the way, don’t you think you had any role or responsibility in this mistreatment of the remains?”

“Based on the results, yes, this is the result of me trying to speak out and right the wrongs,” Abarra said.

The testimony moved commissioner Kekoa Mowat to tears.

Mowat said: “You are not bringing justice to the people of Lahaina. Do you have a problem with him (Maui Police Chief John Pelletier)? He goes out with it. You say you will file a lawsuit. Why are you dragging the commission into this?”

Abarra is in the process of filing a civil lawsuit against the Maui Police Department. He claims MPD owes him more than a quarter of a million dollars for work it never paid for.

“They did what they had to do,” Mowat said. They never followed protocol. Who has protocol for 100 people dying and losing a city? What, do we have a list of places to go, okay, my town burned down, everyone died, what do we do? Should this protocol be implemented? Make sure you get a body bag. “Do not use plastic bags.”

“There are protocols,” Abarra said.

“Yes, there are protocols, but not for this event,” Mowat said.

Abarra: “There is. “There are also training and events taking place to make sure we do this right.”

Mowat asked, “What does this have to do with people dying?” he asked.

“Thus their remains are treated with disrespect and dishonesty,” Abarra said.

Bruce Douglas later testified.

“I am deeply disturbed by this commission’s treatment of Greyson,” he said.

“This commission is here to gather information, not to attack a person. It takes great courage to stand before this commission and share this information. Instead of being supported, he was belittled for this information that he was trying to share,” Douglas said. “So I wonder, is it the commission’s job here to defend the police chief or to question what’s really going on?”

Chef Pelletier made his final comment.

“The remains were given to each of the family members, and I don’t even like to talk about it because it’s painful as far as we can describe it. If we cannot make a definition on this special part of the human being, we will not make that mistake. “And if we needed to check the accuracy, if we needed to go back and retest, we did that,” he said.

After the meeting, the HNN Investigations team waited outside for the chief to ask him about documented missteps, which he has so far refused to discuss. Instead of confronting us directly, he chose to exit through the side door.

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