Disciplinary proceedings being initiated for Kauaʻi police chief who left gun in bathroom

The Kauaʻi Police Commission is considering disciplinary measures for Police Chief Todd Raybuck after he left his gun unattended in a bathroom earlier this year.

The incident occurred in March when Raybuck reportedly left his gun between the handicapped assist railing and the wall in a police station bathroom. A Kauaʻi police officer found it and turned it in.

At a police commission meeting on Sept. 27, the commissioners voted to initiate disciplinary proceedings against Raybuck “pertaining to an allegation that the Chief mishandled his firearm,” said County of Kaua’i Public Information Officer Kim Tamaoka in an email. 

“But this does not mean that a determination to discipline was made,” she said. 

In a recent interview, Dustin DeRollo, who represents the State of Hawai’i Organization of Police Officers, said the commission should “absolutely” consider terminating Raybuck for the gun incident.

“It’s a gun. It’s a loaded firearm,” he said, emphasizing that the situation could have been much worse if a child or civilian had found it. 

Following the initial reports of the incident, Raybuck released a statement that resulted in the police union SHOPO accusing him of downplaying the incident.

In the April statement, Raybuck said he “takes full responsibility” for leaving the firearm outside his office. However, he also said the gun was “located in a secured area of the department that requires access via an employee key card.” 

DeRollo called Raybuck’s statement extremely misleading, saying the bathroom is not as secure as he claims. The bathroom is in the lobby of three offices – Internal Affairs, the Detective Bureau, and the Office of the Chief of Police – making it accessible to a range of people throughout the day.

Although a key card is needed to get in, employees frequently open the door for people to enter, meaning suspects, witnesses, victims, their families, young children on school tours, and food delivery drivers are frequently given access to the area, DeRollo said.  

Once inside, everyone has unrestricted access, according to DeRollo, and no lock is needed to get into the bathroom. 

Similar incidents in Texas this year have led to security officers being terminated. Last month, NBC 5 Dallas Fort-Worth reported that an armed school security officer in Arlington was fired after forgetting his gun belt in an elementary school bathroom. Months before that, in March, two other Texas security officers were fired when one left a gun in a staff bathroom and another in an empty 5th-grade classroom, ABC 13 reported. 

“The police department is looking at the commission and saying, ‘Are you going to hold the leader in the top spot accountable like you would hold the rest of us accountable?’” DeRollo said.

If the commission doesn’t discipline Raybuck, it’s showing other members of the Kauaʻi Police Department that leadership doesn’t need to follow the organization’s values and mission.

“And it should be the other way around,” he said. “Chiefs should be held to the highest standards.”

Kauaʻi Now requested to interview Raybuck about the situation this week, but KPD Public Information Officer Tiana Victorino denied the request and declined to comment on the matter. 

“At this time, Chief Raybuck and KPD do not have any information to share,” Victorino said in an email response, directing questions to the county PIOs.  

According to PIO Tamaoka, the Kaua’i Police Commission will next serve Raybuck the notice of the allegation and provide him the opportunity to respond, per commission rules, before entering a final decision on the matter. 

Minutes from the latest commission meeting are not available yet, Tamaoka said. She noted that the commission has 40 days from the date of the meeting to post the draft minutes. 

DeRollo said the incident is just an example of larger issues within the department that he blames on the chief’s leadership.

Raybuck also is being accused of retaliation after two officers filed formal complaints against him when they became involved in the firearm investigation, Hawaii News Now reported in May.

And 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, which DeRollo criticized in the Wednesday phone conversation.

“In this environment where issues of, you know, equality and race are so, so important to policing. He got a five-day suspension,” DeRollo said.

He also referred to a 2024 survey conducted by analytics company Gallup, which partnered with the Kaua’i Police Commission to survey the KPD to assess climate and gauge morale. 

Among a range of questions surveyed, it reported 49% of the KPD were actively disengaged, 46% were not engaged, and 5% of KPD officers said they were engaged in their jobs. Another question, which asked if the department’s culture “is positively influenced by the Chief’s leadership,” was voted a 1.63 on a 1 to 5 scale. 

SHOPO also conducted its own survey of the KPD in 2022, which found issues including poor communication, lack of input, lack of accessibility from upper ranks, lack of appreciation by management, and not understanding or being part of the Chief’s vision for the department, according to a SHOPO letter sent to the Police Commission on Aug. 1.

“The gun issue is an example of what employees have been saying is the problem,” said DeRollo after referencing the survey.

According to DeRollo, regular employees, or non-command officers, are disciplined when they make errors, but those in leadership positions are not held to the same standard.

“Make a mistake, break the rules, you should be disciplined according to the rules,” he said. “We don’t feel that that’s the case for upper command.”