Gov. Linda Lingle, Mayor Mufi Hannemann, Police Chief Boisse Correa and state Attorney General Mark Bennett will meet today to discuss what happened Friday night when a Hawaiian activist group took over 'Iolani Palace and a female palace employee was assaulted.

Shortly after 8 p.m. Friday, as the 25 members of the group began to make their way into the historical palace, about 31 Honolulu Police Department officers joined an unknown number of state law enforcement officers in apprehending the activists and arresting them. Twenty-three have been charged for varying offenses.

It's what happened before then that is in question.

Yesterday, Correa defended the actions of his department as appropriate, although he noted that Bennett's office was still looking at what happened in connection with the assault.

Once police knew the severity of the situation, "we committed all our resources to the state agencies at that time," Correa said.

Attorney Jim Wright said a female employee of the palace was trying to help him through a gate onto the palace grounds at around 6 p.m. Friday when she was shoved into a cement pillar by three activists and held there. Wright said a police sergeant witnessed the incident, but then drove away without offering assistance.

In a recording of the conversation that followed the assault, Honolulu Police Officer Y. Chan can be heard telling a palace employee that the palace grounds are under the jurisdiction of the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Chan said, "OK, this is state jurisdiction. Where is DLNR?"

The palace employee said there had been an assault and it was now HPD's jurisdiction.

Chan said, "OK, we're going to call DLNR here."

Shortly thereafter, Chan left the scene.

Correa, who stressed he was not present at the scene and that the incident is under investigation, said he does not think a police officer would walk away from an assault.

"Let me tell you, I don't know of any police officer, especially a sergeant ... (who) would not assist a woman being assaulted," Correa said. "And if we do have that kind of supervisor or officer on our police force, they should no longer be police officers."

The chief described the officer involved as "an exceptional supervisor."

Correa said he did not want to divulge too much about the assault case and the police response.

"But according to our facts, the supervisor went there, saw a commotion, stopped, came back, calmed the commotion down, and tried to put the facts together and asked for someone from the (Department of) Land and Natural Resources to meet with him to deal with the assault case."

Correa said the first time police heard about the incident was "a little bit before 6 o'clock" when Gary Moniz, DLNR's head of security, notified police Maj. Frank Fujii that an incident at the palace may require HPD assistance. Fujii is HPD's public information officer.

"We didn't know what was happening at the palace," Correa said. A police sergeant was told to go to the scene and assess the situation, he said.

About the same time, the chief said, Public Safety Director Clayton Frank and Bennett called him personally to relay the same message.

CONFLICTING REPORTS

Correa released recordings of two 911 calls made by palace employees. At no time did dispatchers tell the employees to call state law enforcement. During the first call, made by Friends of 'Iolani Palace executive director Kippen de Alba Chu, the dispatcher said HPD assistance would be forthcoming.

In the second call, from a palace security guard, the dispatcher told the guard to talk to police on the scene after the guard said police were in the area.

Correa acknowledged that the dispatchers did display "some indecisiveness" because they did not know what was happening.

The chief said there is no jurisdictional issue when it comes to 'Iolani Palace or any other property owned by the state.

"We have concurrent jurisdiction throughout the state," he said. "That means we can go on any state premise and we have jurisdiction just like any other law enforcement officer."

Correa added: "Our policy has always been if somebody's life is in jeopardy, or property is in jeopardy we will respond, immediately."

Police did so here, he said. "In this situation, we did respond when we found out somebody's life or property was in jeopardy and we responded accordingly."

There also appears to be some confusion regarding the timing of Friday's events.

Attorney Earle Partington, late yesterday afternoon, said he called 911 around 4 p.m. when he saw men in red T-shirts coming out of vans carrying chains toward a palace gate. Partington said he expected the police dispatcher to ask him for details but was told simply "we'll send an officer to investigate."

Chu, who was working in the Kana'ina administrative building near the Diamond Head gate, said he and other employees didn't realize they were being locked in until about 5:40 p.m. "when we saw the gates being chained and people walking around."

Noelani Ah Yuen, the victim in the assault case, went to The Queen's Medical Center and was treated for minor injuries.

Wright said he is still angry at the actions of the sergeant at the scene when Ah Yuen was injured.

"It was clear he was following orders," Wright said. "And before he left the scene, he called to confirm the orders. He knew it was wrong but he did what he was told."

STATE MUST BE READY

Lingle, on Saturday, said she was bothered by some of the reports she'd heard that police had refused to help an assault victim or state law enforcement.

Lingle said it would be a serious breach of the oath taken by HPD officers if the report that an officer stood by during an assault is proven to be true.

Hannemann responded to Lingle's comments yesterday, stating he thought it "premature" for state officials to criticize how Honolulu police handled the situation.

The mayor said the state should be proactive about anticipating events such as the one that occurred Friday. Hannemann said he has spoken with Correa about the incident several times, including twice yesterday, and is awaiting the results of an internal investigation.

If after reviewing all the evidence wrongdoing is found, "just discipline" will be meted out, Hannemann said.

"To immediately point fingers and blame HPD, that's not the right thing to do," he said. " 'Iolani Palace is under state (jurisdiction) and they have to be proactive and anticipate these things happening. How much pre-warning do you have to have?"

An assessment by palace staff found that damage caused by the break-ins were limited to the door hardware at both the palace and barracks, Chu said. Security measures prevented the burglars from accessing many of the rooms containing valuable artifacts, he said.

Supporters of the Kingdom of Hawai'i had told Chu that they intended to chain Akahi Nui — formerly James Akahi, who is identified as the king of the movement — to the throne.

Palace officials said such an act would have gouged the wood frame and scratched the gilded surface, as well as torn the thread of the throne's upholstery.

The palace has been closed to visitors since Friday but will be reopened tomorrow.