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.
