Logan: Blangiardi Threatened my Family
by Andrew Walden
There is a downside to picking a police chief because he is compromised in the same way that so many individual officers are.
Akamai readers may remember that, in 2022, the day after Joe Logan was selected as Honolulu Police Chief, the public learned what all HPD insiders already knew -- Joe Logan’s son, Zane Logan, has a lengthy court record involving meth, theft, and prostitution, but he always manages to get away with minimal punishments. Just before Joe was sworn in, Zane was allegedly caught chasing one of his alleged ho’s alleged johns thru Ala Moana Park allegedly with a claw hammer. He got ‘time served’ for that -- 81 days in jail — his longest sentence ever.
FLASHBACK: TRO Against New Police Chief’s son places him in UH Professor's spare bedroom
Logan was not selected IN SPITE OF his son’s record. He was selected BECAUSE OF his son’s record. It proved that Joe Logan could be trusted not to disrupt the cozy ties between so many officers and the criminal underworld.
Now, according to Logan’s lawsuit, the downside:
35. On May 28, 2025, MAYOR BLANGIARDI summoned CHIEF LOGAN to what was supposed to be a regular weekly meeting, instructing him to "come alone" and later adding the Managing Director to the meeting.
36. During this meeting, MAYOR BLANGIARDI stated: "You knew this was coming, I am telling you to resign, or I will make it very difficult for you and your family, and you know I can."
It’s not hard to figure out how Joe Logan’s “family” might be vulnerable. Since 2022, Zane Logan’s arrest record on ECourtKokua shows 10 homeless infractions, a traffic ticket, and a traffic crime. By simply choosing to not give him preferential treatment, upon his next arrest, Zane Logan could be put away for quite a long time.
That’s the downside of having a compromised person as Chief.
Why did Blangiardi want Logan gone?
Blangiardi tells media a key issue was Logan’s failure to fill HPD vacancies by hiring more officers and Logan’s return of $50M could have spent for hiring.
Another sore spot may have been Logan’s insufficient response to crime on the Waianae Coast. Tellingly, Interim Chief Rade Vanic has now assigned several additional officers to Waianae.
But Logan mentions none of those things in his lawsuit:
50. On May 29, 2025 at 1:00 p.m. CHIEF LOGAN contacted the City’s Managing Director and asked him, “What did I do wrong?” The Managing Director stated, “Nothing, that’s just the way he is, he wants what he wants.”
51. Evidence demonstrates that MAYOR BLANGIARDI's actions were part of a premeditated plan to remove CHIEF LOGAN prior to his annual evaluation being completed in 2025 and the Honolulu City Council reintroducing Bill 46, which will force HPD to provide dispatch communications to the media.
52. MAYOR BLANGIARDI wanted CHIEF LOGAN removed from his position prior to CHIEF LOGAN’s annual evaluation being completed in 2025 because there would be nothing in the evaluation to remove CHIEF LOGAN for cause.
53. Based on information and belief, on May 30, 2025, two days after threatening CHIEF LOGAN, but before CHIEF LOGAN had made any decision, MAYOR BLANGIARDI contacted County of Hawai’i Police Chief Ben Moszkowicz and asked if he would be the interim Chief and the next HPD Chief.
54. Based on information and belief, MAYOR BLANGIARDI told others at the City that CHIEF LOGAN’s resignation was a “done deal” even before CHIEF LOGAN formally decided to resign.
55. On June 2, 2025, under duress from MAYOR BLANGIARDI's threats against him and his family, CHIEF LOGAN met with MAYOR BLANGIARDI and stated he would retire to avoid having himself, his family and the department dragged through the drama.
56. When CHIEF LOGAN requested to stay until a new Chief was selected or until August 1st, MAYOR BLANGIARDI stated, “No, it has to be the end of June."…
59. On June 2, 2025, MAYOR BLANGIARDI arranged for media to be present when CHIEF LOGAN exited his office, forcing CHIEF LOGAN to endure what a police commissioner from Hawai’i Island, Chair Robinson, described as "the perp walk, so to speak, with the news camera set up."
What were the issues in dispute, according to Logan’s suit?
12. … MAYOR BLANGIARDI repeatedly demanded that HPD provide media organizations with access to encrypted police radios, despite federal CJIS policy and FBI regulations and Hawai’i Revised Statutes Chapter 138 prohibiting such access to protect personally identifiable information (PII) of victims, witnesses, and suspects….
15. MAYOR BLANGIARDI also repeatedly demanded that HPD remove homeless individuals from Waikiki and Chinatown in violation of constitutional requirements established in the Federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals case Martin v. Boise….
20. In late 2023, CHIEF LOGAN refused to bring HPD Public Information Officers (“PIOs”) to MAYOR BLANGIARDI's office for direct criticism, explaining that performance discussions should be handled through proper channels as these were civil servants and laws govern their employment and discipline…
22. In January 2024, MAYOR BLANGIARDI was "very upset" with CHIEF LOGAN regarding a lawsuit and accused him of withholding information, despite CHIEF LOGAN's truthful explanation that he was not aware of the allegations in the lawsuit.
23. MAYOR BLANGIARDI also demanded that CHIEF LOGAN fire or remove some of the HPD’s Assistant Chiefs, claiming they were not supporting CHIEF LOGAN's goals. Again, CHIEF LOGAN refused to violate the law by summarily firing command staff….
25. In September 2024, after an HPD internal survey was released, MAYOR BLANGIARDI told two HPC Commissioners, who supported the internal survey and its release, that he was going to force CHIEF LOGAN’s resignation.
26. MAYOR BLANGIARDI attempted to prevent the release of the HPD internal survey, directing that HPD not release the survey and worked with the City’s Corporation Counsel to find ways to avoid releasing public information.
27. When Corporation Counsel determined the survey must be released, MAYOR BLANGIARDI was extremely upset, and told CHIEF LOGAN, 'If you had asked me I would have told you not to do such a survey.'"…
FLASHBACK HNN Aug 27, 2024: Low morale, poor communication among complaints by HPD officers in internal survey
28. In late 2024 and early 2025, both of HPD’s civil service PIOs resigned and retired.
29. In or about February to April 2025, when CHIEF LOGAN went to push the City’s HR to hire the new permanent PIOs, MAYOR BLANGIARDI called CHIEF LOGAN and told CHIEF LOGAN that his team would pick who the HPD PIOs would be because CHIEF LOGAN lacked the necessary qualifications to know what good PIOs are.
30. CHIEF LOGAN pushed back against this and stated, “You are trying to micromanage the department.”
Logan paints himself as a ‘whistleblower’ against ‘illegal’ acts by the mayor.
He wants money.
UPDATES:
Blangiardi statement released Friday morning: “I am deeply disappointed that former Chief Joe Logan has chosen to file this meritless complaint against the City. He voluntarily stepped down as Chief and had every opportunity to rescind his resignation if he changed his mind over the last two months. The City will vigorously defend against these claims as we remain firmly focused on strengthening public safety in communities across O’ahu, advancing officer recruitment, and increasing public confidence in government.”
Statement Friday from SHOPO Honolulu chapter chair Jonathan Frye: “Demanding hundreds of thousands of dollars for work you did not do, taking those resources from a community that needs them, is shameful. Those are funds that could be invested in after-school programs for kids, better preparing our island for disaster, or fixing the police retention crisis that Logan ignored before he voluntarily retired and left his post. This behavior is especially disappointing because the men and women of the Honolulu Police Department, sworn and civilian, as well as the community, deserve the opportunity to rebuild the HPD in an environment free from outside chaos and trauma. All Logan’s selfish actions do is create more turmoil and delay progress. SHOPO repeatedly tried to work cooperatively with former Chief Logan on this department’s most pressing needs, including the officer retention crisis. He consistently chose inaction over collaboration.”
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BACKGROUND:
PDF: Logan Complaint
ILind: Logan’s Run Last month, HPD announced the hiring of a new communications director. It appears that after bullying Logan out of his job, Mayor Rick got his way and the new communications director is a contract hire without civil service protections. The same is likely true of her staff.
SA: Former Honolulu police chief sues Blangiardi over alleged threats | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
SA: Lawsuit alleges Blangiardi threatened HPD chief into resigning | Honolulu Star-Advertiser Logan accused Blangiardi of having a Hawaii News Now camera team set up and ready to film him walking in and out of Blangiardi’s office on June 2, leaving him “shocked and humiliated.” Logan and his attorney, Joseph T. Rosenbaum, will address the lawsuit and take questions from the news media at a 10 a.m. news conference in Rosenbaum’s office.
2022: TRO Against New Police Chief’s son places him in UH Professor's spare bedroom
HNN: HPD criticized for initially withholding information about arrest of incoming chief’s son “It’s not a case of a simple error. This is a case where, you know, somebody tried to conceal the information there.”
2022: Brig. Gen. Arthur ‘Joe’ Logan chosen as Honolulu’s next police chief > Hawaii Free Press “If you have a young officer who wants to be the police chief, my job is to teach them how to do that. This is a five-year term; I’m not going to be there … for decades. … So because of that, I have to find somebody capable of taking my place, and there are the two candidates who were also applying (Lambert and Moszkowicz) and are also qualified, so we need to take a look at that,” said Logan.