HPD to create
new Leeward Oahu
patrol district

The change will require more
staffing in support positions

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By Nelson Daranciang
ndaranciang@starbulletin.com

Just as the Honolulu Police Department appears to be reaching full strength in terms of assigned uniformed police officers, Chief Lee Donohue is planning to open a ninth patrol district in Leeward Oahu that will require its own staff of clerks, investigators and patrol officers.

District 8 headquarters will move from the Waianae Police Substation to the Kapolei Police Station. And Waianae will become headquarters for the new District 9.

The Kapolei Police Station opened more than a year ago but is not fully operational because of the current shortage of police officers.

Police are still not able to hold suspects in the station's 43 jail cells but Donohue said by next month officers will be able to book suspects who are able to post bail.

District 8, which stretches from Fort Weaver Road in Ewa to Kaena Point, will be split to form two patrol districts.

"We're budgeting right now; it can happen real quickly," said Donohue. "The beats are there. Wherever you draw the boundary the manpower is still there. It's just the support system, detectives, follow-up people, crime reduction unit. I'm hoping within the next year that it'll be operational."

Maj. Glen Kajiyama of the Honolulu Police Human Resources Division said, "That's going to kill us, we have all these other vacancies to fill."

Kajiyama said he has yet to receive a request to allot staff for a new patrol district.

At the end of June, the department had just one vacant uniformed officer position. But 260 of the positions are being filled by recruits still in training.

"They're not on the road yet, the benefits are not yet seen," said Kajiyama.

Officers report sometimes working 24-hour shifts to fill vacant positions.

"Yeah, we got holes out there and, yes, the officers are working long hours, but as we fill the vacancies, the shortage should be eliminated," Donohue said.

"We have the manpower; the stations don't assign them," said Detective Alex Garcia, Oahu chairman of the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers.

Garcia believes officers are working long hours because not enough are assigned to patrol.

"They're on special units and special assignments," he said.

Donohue is also considering splitting off a portion of District 7, which stretches from Punahou Street to the Makapuu lighthouse.

A new district could stretch from Ainakoa Avenue to Waimanalo to provide relief for officers assigned to District 4 who patrol the entire windward side of Oahu, he said.