Hawaiʻi County Police Detective William Brown was arrested and charged with Perjury and Tampering with a Government Record.

Brown, who was off-duty at the time of his arrest, was ordered by a judge to be released on his own recognizance. The arrest warrant was filed by the court just before 2:00 p.m. yesterday.

On July 18, 2023, HPD learned of allegations that four months earlier, Brown, then a detective with the Area I Vice Section, submitted a false government record and provided false testimony during a grand jury proceeding. Upon learning of these allegations, HPD’s Office of Professional Standards (OPS) worked with the Hawai‘i County Office of the Prosecutors Attorney (OPA) to make arrangements to have the subject of the grand jury testimony released from custody. In addition, personnel from the OPS Criminal Investigation Section began a criminal investigation into Detective Brown, which resulted in yesterday’s charges.

While OPS conducted an internal administrative investigation, the department moved Detective Brown away from his investigative assignment. The ongoing internal investigation that started in July is expected to be completed by the end of the month. Following his arrest, Brown was placed on leave without pay pending the outcome.

After it was investigated by the HPD-OPS Criminal Investigation Section, the case underwent a legal process known as Information Charging Non-Custody (ICNC). As members of the Hawai‘i County OPA were potentially witnesses to the testimony and documents in question, the case was conferred with a Deputy from the State of Hawai‘i Department of the Attorney General’s Criminal Justice Division. In ICNC cases, after investigators confer a case with prosecuting attorneys at the county or state level, a judge then reviews the case and, if appropriate, signs an arrest warrant containing details of the criminal charges.