Kauai police chief Todd Raybuck. Photo: Kauai Police Department
A discrimination investigation found that Kaua‘i Police Department Chief Todd Raybuck violated policies against discrimination by mocking Asians, according to The Garden Island.
The investigation’s report says that Raybuck in one case “squinted his eyes” and bowed his head while mocking someone in Japanese accent, The Daily Mail reports.
In September 2020 the Kaua’i police commission received an internal complaint against Raybuck alleging violations of discrimination policies as well as civil-service laws and rules, The Garden Island reports.
Audio recordings were submitted to the commission investigation. They capture Raybuck mocking Asians in a July meeting while explaining why a Japanese American employee wasn’t eligible for a promotion.
“So, somebody in the Japanese culture, if they think your idea is absolutely stupid and the dumbest thing they’ve ever heard, what’s their typical response to you?” Raybuck asks in the recording. “‘Yes, yes, yes.’”
The person who filed the complaint said he squinted and bowed.
“During this meeting, he talked to me about the Japanese culture, which including mocking the way Japanese people look by squinting his eyes, nodding his head and saying ‘yes,’ ‘yes,’ ‘yes,’ with a very-bad Chinese accent,” the complaint reads.
The investigation also identified an incident on November 13. Raybuck met with command staff and told a story about an Asian fast food customer. He made “facial gestures and accent, and commented on an employee’s haircut as something out of a Kung Fu movie,” according to the report.
Commission Chair Catherine Adams wrote in the February 26 report, obtained by The Garden Island, that corrective action would be taken.
“Given the findings regarding violation of the Policy Against Discrimination, the Commission will take appropriate corrective action to assure that future violations do not occur,” Adams wrote in February. “The details of the corrective action are confidential personnel matters.”
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