Maui police see lowest
applicant rate ever
Lt. Jon Morioka of the Maui Police Department said he is alarmed by the lack of applicants this year to fill police officer vacancies.
"It was surprising that the applicant rate has been lower than it has ever been," said Morioka, of the Community Relations Division.
The Maui Police Department will hold its first job fair to address the low number of applicants from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. July 31 at the Hale Makai main station, 55 Mahalani St., Wailuku.
"The department's main goal is to fill the positions by getting as much applicants as we can," Morioka said.
The Police Department has 35 police officer vacancies. The minimum salary for officers starts at $34,744 a year and will increase to a minimum of $37,515 once officers complete training and a year of probation.
The job fair will allow those interested to take four steps toward becoming officers in one day: fill out an application, take a test, get results and undergo a process that includes fingerprinting, filling out a personal questionnaire and setting up an interview to be held at a later date.
Morioka said a total of 361 people applied in 2002. Of that, 258 took the test and 116 passed. In 2003, 541 people applied, 328 took the test and 158 people passed.
As of June only 152 people had applied, 73 took the test and 29 had passed.
Morioka said they normally get more applicants at the beginning of the year.
"This year, we're kind of running a little slow," Morioka said, despite participating in job fairs in Honolulu.
He recalled thousands of people who applied to become a police officer when he took the test 24 years ago.
Morioka attributed the shortage of applicants to reality television shows such as "Cops" that reveal what police officers face every day.
"Most people know about police work than back then," he said.
"Some people look at the job and say, 'I can't do that' or 'That's the job for me,'" Morioka said. "It's exciting and it can be dangerous."
He added that the attrition rate has been steady at an estimated 20 officers a year.
Registration will take place from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. A driver's license and two No. 2 pencils are required to register for the test. Applicants will have the opportunity to take a three-hour test at 9 a.m. or at 1 p.m.
Anyone who fails the test held in the morning will have an opportunity to retake the test in the afternoon.
Those who pass the test will take two to three hours to be processed by officials, including fingerprinting, filling out a questionnaire and having a photo taken.