Police chief in Hawaii accused of mocking Asians ‘squinted his eyes’
- Internal investigation found Kauai police chief Todd Raybuck violated discrimination policies
- Local mayor urges community give police chief a chance to ‘explain his actions’
The police chief on the Hawaiian island of Kauai mocked people of Asian descent and in one case “squinted his eyes” and bowed his head while mimicking someone with a Japanese accent, a discrimination investigation found.
In another incident, Kauai police chief Todd Raybuck relayed a story of meeting someone of Asian descent in a restaurant in which he parodied the person’s speech and mannerisms, the investigation by the Kauai Police Commission said.
The chief, according to internal documents obtained by The Garden Island newspaper, said the person had a haircut that looked like something out of a “Kung Fu movie”.
Raybuck violated county discrimination policies and created a hostile work environment for an officer based on race, the investigation found. Both are cause for “appropriate corrective action”, said a February 26 letter about the investigation written by commission chair Catherine Adams.
The recipient of the letter was not disclosed.
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Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami said if the allegations against Raybuck are true, they are hurtful, particularly to Asian-Americans. He said discrimination cannot be tolerated.