Riley Bandy hired in Honolulu after California police ban

Riley Bandy, a former San Francisco Police Department officer, was hired as an investigator for Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Steve Alm despite being banned from police work in California. Bandy had been under internal investigation for over four years regarding his handling of a missing persons case. Rather than cooperating with investigators, he resigned and surrendered his police certification in November 2024.

Special counsel Christine Denton stated that the prosecutor’s office was unaware of the alleged misconduct or the failure to cooperate during the hiring process. Because the investigation remained confidential for several years, Bandy was able to secure the position in Hawaiʻi before the findings became public record. The incident has highlighted vulnerabilities in the vetting process for law enforcement applicants in Hawaiʻi, as investigators lacked access to his full personnel records during background checks.