by Mindy Aguon

Guam - Police Lieutenant Mark Charfauros has made waves just about everywhere he has been employed. From the time he was senator and the infamous phone recorded conversations he played on session floor and the allegations of dropping the ball while running the Guam Baseball Federation, to his contentious departure from the Airport Police and his questionable transfer to the Guam Police Department.

But while a member of the force, Charfauros has been arrested numerous times and now he's had enough, filing a whistleblower complaint as he contends he's the victim of retaliation. Charfauros isn't just appealing his recent five-day suspension and demotion from the rank of captain to lieutenant - he's filed a whistleblower, or public employee protection complaint, with the Civil Service Commission.

Charfauros alleges that he has been the victim of retaliation by high-ranking members of the police department that he says has resulted in questionable adverse personnel actions and what he calls "unjustified criminal arrests" against him. Following his latest arrest back in December for official misconduct, Charfauros warned that he had been silent long enough.

"It is something that I have been quiet about," he told KUAM News. "It is something that I have brought to the attention of individuals in the police department, that this is inappropriate and that we will be in bad light if this will ever come out."

And in an eleven-page complaint, Charfauros details the examples of being targeted by a certain faction within the police department. The police lieutenant talked about his alleged trespassing in Yona that led to the claims that he asked another officer to go with him to "deck a guy", which led to his arrest; as well as concerns he had about alleged missing money from a drug investigation and claims that Charfauros had leaked a personnel document to KUAM News that led to the execution of a search warrant at our Harmon studios, which were unfounded.

Charfauros contends that much of the retaliation stems from his transfer to the police department as a captain from the Airport Police. The transfer coincidentally occurred when Paul Suba was police chief.

He even goes after former chief Frank Ishizaki, who he claims appointed a Police Lieutenant Applications Review Committee to review lieutenant applications even after the promotions had already been made and announced. Charfauros contends doing so made the process suspect to allegations that certain favorites who scored lower in the certification process would replace others who scored higher but were not considered favorites by Ishizaki.

But Charfauros spent the bulk of his complaint on Chief Fred Bordallo, specifically detailing how a program coordinator within the Recreational Boating Program was terminated even though the department had agreed to hire him for a different position through above-step recruitment. Charfauros says the department had messed up on the recruitment and had promised to hire the individual but later terminated him and completely eliminated the federally-funded position. He warned that doing so put the department in a position of facing a possible racial discrimination complaint.

But Charfauros believes the biggest problem is that the chief is incapable of doing his job. He tells the CSC that Bordallo hasn't been able to maintain control of the department, as evidenced by his inability to quell the internal fighting.

Charfauros has asked the Civil Service Commission to reinstate him to the rank of police captain and order GPD to reimburse him for wages he lost as a result of his demotion and suspension, be reinstated as the chief of GPD's Administration Division, pay his attorney's fees, and that the chief request assistance from the governor for additional staff to address his inability to take control of his department.

CSC executive director Tony Lamorena says the complaint has been assigned to a personnel management analyst who will conduct an assessment and present it to commissioners, who will then determine if it should move forward for a full investigation. "The law is primarily to ensure that the employee is protected through the process," said Lamorena. "If in fact there is some criminal intent, then we turn the findings over to the proper authorities. But the whole intent is that government employees have the freedom to voice their opinion if they see something illegal going on within the agencies so it does protect the employee."

Police Chief Bordallo meanwhile declined to comment on the whistleblower complaint. GPD spokesperson Officer A.J. Balajadia says the Chief's Office only received a copy of the complaint today and it is under review. Additionally, Balajadia adds that the department will consult with the attorney general, who will represent the force in the Commission's proceedings.