Pubdate: Sun, 10 Feb 2008
Source: Honolulu Advertiser (HI)
Copyright: 2008 The Honolulu Advertiser, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
Contact:  http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/195
Author: Lee Cataluna, Advertiser Columnist
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Marijuana)

SO WHAT DID THESE OFFICERS DO ON MAUI?

We may never find out what those three were really doing when they 
said they were in cop class, but it is a sign of the times that we 
can at least think of numerous possibilities.

Two Kaua'i Police Department sergeants and one officer entered no 
contest pleas last week to charges stemming from an incident in 
September 2005 when they said they were attending a seminar on Maui 
but never went to class. They got on the plane, rented cars, checked 
into hotel rooms, got per diem checks and even filled out "what I 
learned in class" surveys but didn't go to class.

Or if they did, they're just not fighting the allegations that they 
cut class. Maybe they were sitting in the back, mumbled "here!" too 
softly when the teacher took attendance and didn't participate in 
group discussion. "No contest" is different from admitting guilt, 
though it is also different from proclaiming innocence.

The three-day training session that they're not contesting they 
didn't attend was about marijuana eradication. That begs for a punch 
line, doesn't it?

So instead of learning about eradicating marijuana, what were they 
doing? Biking down Haleakala? Cooking with Cutty? Gathering rocks in 
anticipation of the Superferry?

It wasn't too long ago that the idea of getting into trouble on a 
Neighbor Island would be met with disbelief. Trouble? What could they 
possibly do? Hoist a few bottles at a beach park parking lot? Shoot 
fence posts with their service revolver? Tip a cow? Seriously, there 
just wasn't much. Pakalolo class would be the most interesting thing going on.

Even visiting high school teams found it hard to raise any heck at 
the Maui Palms hotel. Whoo-hoo! We bad! Let's go raid the ice machine 
in the lobby!

But Maui has the lure of the big city now, especially if you're from 
Kaua'i. There are bar fights upcountry, bar fights in Kihei, costumed 
bar fights in Lahaina. There's nightlife beyond 10 p.m. and daylife 
even more exotic than the swap meet at the old fair grounds.

Maybe it wasn't anything like that. Maybe it was long naps, walks on 
the beach at sunset, a trip to the hotel spa.

The three Kaua'i police officers have been on paid leave since August 
2006, though dismissal proceedings have begun. They also face the 
possibility of jail time and fines.

They face the ridicule of every person who has ever cut out of a 
boring meeting, a tedious class, an odious work assignment and did it 
with some ingenuity and cunning.

They also face the ire of those who went to class because that's what 
they were supposed to do, fun or not. 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake