Kauaʻi Police Commission suspends Chief Raybuck for handgun incident; evidence not found for alleged retaliation

The Kauaʻi Police Commission on Friday decided to suspend Police Chief Todd Raybuck for three days for leaving his Glock in a bathroom stall in March.

But the Commission said it did not find evidence to support the allegations made in two complaints that Raybuck retaliated against the officers who found the handgun, and therefore would take no further action.

These actions come a week after Raybuck said he would retire in 2025 in an internal memo.

The Kaua‘i Police Commission discussed the complaints, which were investigated over seven months, during their monthly meeting in executive session that is not open to the public on Friday. Its decision was announced in open session.

“The outcome confirmed what I stated publicly in April: I did not, and do not retaliate against my employees,” Raybuck said in a statement. “Furthermore, it would be ludicrous for me to retaliate against my employees for an incident I self-reported in a timely manner to the Police Commission before any complaint was filed against me.”

The incident occurred on March 4 and he reported it in April.

Raybuck said in his statement he accepts full responsibility for his failure to properly secure his firearm on police department property.

“Some of my most valuable lessons in life have been learned through my mistakes,” he said. “I hope that others have learned the importance of properly securing firearms from my experience.”

But he railed against the incident and complaints being made public before they could be investigated, saying: “This practice has not afforded me due process and appears to be intended to create public shame and exert political pressure on me.”

He said while public scrutiny is part of being a public official, the officers making the complaints were attacking his reputation and making false claims that were hard on his family.

“For this reason alone, I have decided to retire from law enforcement,” Raybuck said. “Contrary to any speculation, I was not asked or forced to retire, nor did I announce my retirement to escape any investigation or discipline.” 

Raybuck was sworn in as the Kaua’i Police Department’s 8th chief on April 22, 2019. Two years later, in a 2021 lawsuit, Raybuck was accused of racial discrimination after Police Captain Paul Applegate said he mocked people of Asian descent.

The case was dismissed, and Applegate agreed to retire as part of a $350,000 settlement package, Civil Beat reported in April. Raybuck was suspended without pay for five days following the investigation.

Raybuck’s retirement announcement is unrelated to any settlement with the Kauaʻi Police Commission, and there is no severance agreement tied to his decision to retire.

“I will continue to offer the necessary leadership and support for the remainder of my time with the department,” he said.

To replace Raybuck and pick an interim chief, the Police Commission decided to form two groups to formulate recommendations. The rules regarding the selection process can be found on the Kaua‘i Police Commission’s website.

The commission noted that the Kaua‘i County Charter was amended in 2020 to change the minimum requirements for the Chief of Police. However, Kaua’i Police Commission Rules do not currently reflect the 2020 Charter Amendment as the rules were last amended in 2018. The current language in the Charter of the County of Kaua‘i, Section 11.04, can be viewed here.