Maui's police commission has sidelined Chief John Pelletier while an outside investigation plays out — bad news for the chief and unsettling for a department already under federal scrutiny.

• The commission voted unanimously behind closed doors to put Pelletier on paid leave.
• The move follows the federal corruption indictment of a lieutenant who ran the criminal intelligence unit and reported straight to the chief.
• The question is whether Pelletier failed to keep watch over his own department.
• That unit has since been disbanded, a choice critics call suspicious because no one else was put in charge of it.
• Deputy Chief Wade says the commission got it wrong and stresses there is no criminal investigation into Pelletier.

Outlook: The independent investigation continues, and Pelletier's job will hinge on what it finds about his oversight of the indicted lieutenant.