STAR-BULLETIN / 2000
The Kapolei police station, costing $13.5 million
to construct, opened last June.

Lights are on,
police not home

HPD says the new $13.5 million
Kapolei station needs 66 more
officers before it can operate full time

---

By Rod Antone
Star-Bulletin

Several months ago, Honolulu Police Detective Alex Garcia said he was working on a case in Waianae one night and decided to stop by the new Kapolei police station to take a quick tour.

However, Garcia said, there was no one at the front desk to let him in, and when he tried his access card at the back door, it did not work. He later learned that after 4:30 p.m. the station has everything but the police.

"I remember thinking, What if a member of the public came by and needed help or something?" Garcia said. "This is really embarrassing."

HPD officials said they still need about 66 more officers and several civilian hires to fully staff the station's cellblock so that police can make use of Kapolei's 43 jail cells.

"I've had dozens and dozens of officers complaining about this Kapolei station, and why isn't it opened, and we can't get in there in the evening, you can't do your bookings," said Garcia. "It's taking guys off the road where they should be."

DENNIS ODA / STAR-BULLETIN 2000
Bartoloma Rico swept the cellblock hallway for
the opening of the Kapolei police station last July.

Opened last June, the $13.5 million Kapolei police station was to be the new command center of patrol District 8, which stretches from Kaena Point to the Ewa plain.

Garcia, who is the union representative for Oahu police officers, said the union brought the lack of evening staffing to HPD's attention. The department then hired civilian employees to answer phones and run the front desk after 4:30 p.m. when the station shuts down and officers go home.

But because of the staffing problem, police making arrests still have to drive to either the Pearl City police station or the one in Waianae to book and process suspects.

A police spokeswoman said yesterday that the department will eventually fill the vacancies at Kapolei, but not until they address a shortage in police officers.

There are 1,991 police officer positions filled out of the 2,032 spots available.

However, 211 officers are either recruits or involved in field training, which means they cannot work at Kapolei until their training is over, according to the spokeswoman.

Garcia, however, disagrees that 66 people are needed to operate the cellblock area. "You can have four or five officers per watch at the receiving desk," he said. "That's enough to book, process and transport them to town if you have to."

"There's no reason why it can't be operational right now," he said. "It's a real waste of taxpayers' money not to have this thing in use."

City Councilman John DeSoto, who represents Kapolei, said the lack of staffing is just another symptom of problems that have plagued HPD for several years: low police retention and low pay raises.

"If pay raises are a concern, then that's something that needs to be addressed, and soon, too," said DeSoto. "We need to make that a priority."