THE various statements of the governor, the lieutenant governor, the police chief and the GPD spokesman over the past few weeks as relates to the “Blue House” scandal defy belief.

The Blue House madam, Song Ja Cha, richly deserves her sentence of life imprisonment. Her sentence is an appropriate legal response to the nature of her crimes. That matter now appears to be resolved and, except for appeal in the federal court system, is therefore settled.

But the behavior of local authorities in relation to this crime is still outstanding and is not resolved. Uniformed police officers cooperated with Cha in her enslavement of these women. The GPD spokesman issued a statement saying only one uniformed officer was guilty of anything and the internal investigation is “case closed.” The police chief and the governor tell us this situation is not alarming. The most recent statement by the lieutenant governor would seem to say that if we didn’t get it right the first time, it is reassuring to know that we’re going to try to get it right in the future and not make the same mistakes again. I wonder if the lieutenant governor recognizes how weak his statement and explanations are. One wonders how many years are required, since its formulation, for the Guam Police Department to conduct an acceptable internal investigation.

Prostitution is a fact on the island and except for health issues, I don’t give a damn about such matters; however, slavery (aka human trafficking) is an absolutely repugnant crime against humanity. Cha ran the Blue House for years. Police officers had to be aware of its nature for quite some time. Is GPD asking us to believe that knowledge of the nature of the Blue House enterprise did not circulate throughout the police force? Is GPD asking us to believe that this information did not informally percolate up to senior officers of the department? Are GovGuam officials asking us to believe that the cooperation of their policemen with enslavement is no big deal and not worthy of alarm and immediate action?

We have answers. We have the behavior of “Guam’s finest.” We have the first GPD internal investigation. We have the statements of the governor and others expressing their “trust” in the police department. Are these people serious? What is it they don’t understand about slavery? Don’t they realize the image they project to us, the residents of this island? Certainly, it is not an image that fosters trust or respect. They have invalidated the concept of “internal investigations” quite thoroughly yet they propose to further explain their behavior by another internal investigation.

These officials must think their behavior and statements do not imply failed management of a serious issue, and that this management does not negatively register with the public.

How very wrong they are.

James W. Cafky,
Dededo