FINAL CHAPTER
Police Chief Lee Donohue
reflects on his career as he
prepares to retire Thursday
Looking back at four decades on the force, Honolulu Police Chief Lee Donohue smiles and recalls his early days as a patrol officer.
"You're your own boss, the only thing you have to respond to is that radio," said Donohue, 61. "Other than that you're pretty much on your own."
"I tell the officers, enjoy your patrol career, because that was the most fun time that I enjoyed ... a lot of good stories, both on and off duty."
The final chapter on Donohue's story as a member of the Honolulu Police Department will end on Thursday, 40 years to the day he first joined the department on July 1, 1964.
Deputy Chief Glen Kajiyama will fill in as acting chief until a new chief is selected by the Honolulu Police Commission this fall.
Reflecting upon his career, Donohue said he never wanted to be the man in charge.
"Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be chief," he said.
"I just wanted to be a cop."
Donohue was promoted to police chief on April 20, 1998 after the retirement of then chief Michael Nakamura.
His first task was to deal with the problem of officers leaving the department for better paying jobs and a lower cost of living in the Pacific Northwest. Add that to a number of veteran officers retiring at the same time and HPD was looking at filling some 400 vacancies.
As he leaves, there are 250 vacancies and 220 recruits in training so "things have gotten better," Donohue said.
But he said as long as police officers in Hawaii make less than officers on the mainland, the problem will never go away.
Starting pay for a Honolulu police officer begins at $34,000, while other cities such as San Diego start officers at $37,000 and San Francisco at $54,000, he said.
"You can go up to the Pacific Northwest, they may start off fairly close to us but within six months to 18 months their raises kick in and they're making probably $41,000 to $45,000," Donohue said. "The irony of it is when I took the test for the Honolulu Police Department, Los Angeles was also here recruiting 40 years ago, so it hasn't changed."
"Although we've had a pay raise for the next four years I think there's still a lot of room to go."
Donohue is quick to point out that the latest crime statistics show that police are reducing property crime which had been increasing steadily over the last several years.
In 2003, Oahu saw a 12 percent decrease in property crime from the year before which included an 11 percent drop in burglaries, a 14 percent drop in larceny/thefts and a 3 percent decrease in auto thefts.
Violent crimes increased slightly by 0.2 percent and include a 10 percent increase in assaults, a 13 percent decrease in rape and a 17 percent drop in murders. Even so, Donohue said he still considers Honolulu the "safest city in the United States."
While chief, Donohue said police began focusing on the criminal instead of just the crime.
Detectives noticed that the same people were committing the same crimes over and over again, breaking into cars then using those cars to commit other crimes such as burglarizing homes.
"We've done our research on these people, we did our investigations ... and we were able to arrest a lot of these people," Donohue said.
Some of the toughest times on the job have been when officers have been shot or police have shot suspects.
Most recently, fugitive Gordon Morse was shot to death by police after shooting and wounding Kalihi police officer Ermie Barroga at Mayor Wright Homes on June 17.
"It's tragic anytime we get involved in shootings," Donohue said. "It's unfortunate that Morse was killed but he made a decision there that forced our officers to a response that they were trained to do."
Though Barroga was is recovering at home from his injuries, three police officers have been killed in the line of duty during Donohue's six years as chief.
Officer Dannygriggs Padayao, died during a traffic stop in 2001. Last year officer Glen Gaspar was shot to death in a struggle with a suspect and a traffic accident killed solo bike officer Ryan Goto.
The deaths hit Donohue hard, especially since he almost died in 1999, when he collapsed from a heart complication while demonstrating martial arts to recruits.
Assistant chief Boisse Correa and detective Mark Boyce helped save his live with an automated external defibrillator, a device that the police had just started to carry and use.
"It can't get much closer than that," Donohue said.
The brush with death sums up what he said he's learned from 40 years as a police officer --"how fragile life is."
"Knowing that and knowing that you have the chance to make a difference in someone's life, to me I think that's changed me a lot."
Honolulu Police Department
www.honolulupd.org
