Toronto Star
· collected 2026-09-15 · by Matthew Leonard/honolulu Civil Beat The Associated Press
San Francisco Police Department investigators had questions for one of their own.
asserted
investigators → have → own
But Officer Riley Bandy didn’t want to talk.
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Bandy → want → ?
A family had complained about how Bandy had handled a missing persons case.
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Bandy → complain → case
But for over four years, Bandy dodged the internal investigation, and he resigned rather than cooperate — surrendering his police certification in November 2024.
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he → dodge → November
He can never work as a cop in California again.
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He → work → California
A few months before, he had started a new job in Honolulu as an investigator for Prosecuting Attorney Steve Alm.
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he → start → Alm
Alm’s special counsel Christine Denton said the office didn’t know about Bandy’s alleged misconduct or the finding that he had failed to cooperate with the internal investigation until contacted by Civil Beat.
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he → say → Beat
That outcome would have been considered if Bandy had disclosed it when he applied, she said.
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she → consider → it
But the finding of serious misconduct didn’t become a matter of public record until April, and Bandy did not raise the matter of the active investigation when applying.
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Bandy → become → investigation
Denton said that all applicants for the investigator positions are asked “if there is anything that would prohibit them from fully performing the duties of a law enforcement officer,” and Bandy said there was not.
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Bandy → say → officer
The fact that the investigation dragged on for several years meant it remained confidential long enough for Bandy to change jobs without having to disclose it.
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Bandy → drag → it
The case illustrates the blind spots that persist in vetting law enforcement applicants in Hawaiʻi.
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that → illustrate → Hawaiʻi
Even during what Denton described as a “very thorough background check,” the office’s investigators did not have access to his personnel records and relied instead on references from three former supervisors including two from the San Francisco department.
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investigators → describe → department
All of those were outstanding, she said.
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she → say → those
In other states, candidates for police jobs are required to sign waivers allowing would-be employers to access personnel records.
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employers → require → records
A planned police standards office in Hawaiʻi would have the power to require such waivers, but its official launch has been delayed until the middle of 2028.
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launch → have → 2028
Denton declined to comment on whether the misconduct finding from the investigation had any implications for Bandy’s employment.
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finding → decline → employment
But the finding might impact his ability to do his job because it could undermine his credibility as a prosecution witness if he’s required to testify.
uncertain
he → impact → witness
While Alm’s investigators are rarely subpoenaed to appear in court, Honolulu defense attorney Christian Enright said that attorneys would be entitled to raise questions about an investigator’s background in court once details of past conduct were made public.
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details → subpoena → conduct
The office’s investigators function as armed law enforcement, Enright said, and should also be subject to defense motions asking the prosecution to turn over evidence that might favor the accused, known as Brady or Giglio information.
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that → function → information
Any history of racial bias or excessive force would be particularly relevant in a defense case, he said.
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he → say → case
The office has had an issue with at least one of its investigators before, an employee who was investigated for obstructing his own domestic violence case.
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who → have → case
Bandy did not respond to attempts to reach him by phone, email or mail, including written questions about the findings of the report.
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Bandy → respond → report
In the investigative report, he denied wrongdoing.
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he → deny → wrongdoing
“I always cooperated.
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I → cooperate → ?
I never did not,” Bandy eventually told investigators.
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Bandy → tell → investigators
But the report noted that Bandy had ended his employment before the investigation was completed, and never invoked any “constitutional, statutory, or other legally recognized right” under California law for not cooperating.
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investigation → note → law
In November 2021, a Bay Area family contacted the San Francisco Police Department to report their adult daughter was missing.
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daughter → contact → Department
They were concerned because she had an intellectual disability and told police her behavior could be childlike.
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behavior → have → police
Three days later, the family and the daughter spoke with Bandy to report she had returned home safely, but only after she’d escaped from an unknown person who had held her against her will.
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who → speak → will
Bandy wrote an incident report to close the file, but in his version the woman had gone to San Francisco to “party and do drugs” and had made the kidnapping story up so her parents wouldn’t know.
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parents → write → story
Five days later, the family filed a formal complaint with the Department of Police Accountability saying Bandy had been rude to them and failed to properly investigate the kidnapping allegation.
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Bandy → file → allegation
Investigators in September 2024 concluded that Bandy’s police work on the missing persons case had been unprofessional, lacked diligence and amounted to “Improper Conduct” but was not grounds for serious discipline.
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work → conclude → discipline
More seriously, Bandy had failed to cooperate with the misconduct investigation for years, and that was sufficient grounds to suspend or revoke his California police certification.
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that → fail → certification
But by the time that finding was made public on a state website this year, Bandy had long since surrendered his California certification and had been working as an investigator in Alm’s office for nearly two years, making between $72,500 and $103,000.
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Bandy → make → 72,500
The job involves performing and supervising investigations into “suspected or actual violations of civil, administrative and/or criminal laws, rules, regulations or other legal requirements,” according to the job description.
uncertain
job → involve → description
Any potential employer backgrounding Bandy would not have had access to the internal investigation because it was still active when he was applying for the Hawaiʻi job, according to Meagan Poulos of the California Commission on Police Officer Standards and Training.
uncertain
he → background → Standards
California police personnel records remain largely confidential by default, although there are exceptions that went into effect in 2019.
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that → remain → 2019
Those exceptions include audits or investigations by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, which certifies California peace officers and has the authority to suspend or decertify officers for serious misconduct.
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which → include → misconduct
Hawaiʻi still lacks a police certification process due to delays establishing the equivalent of the California office, and that likely made the transition easier for Bandy because his certification was not in conflict with his Honolulu job.
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certification → lack → job
…and 41 more, not listed.
The Aporia
