Vacancies tax isle
police forces

HPD is operating at 80 percent
staffing, but geography intensifies
the Big Isle’s problem

Big Island police officers are frequently working 12-hours shifts, sometimes even 16-hour shifts, due to shortages of personnel.

All four counties have shortages, with the largest in Honolulu, with 20.5 percent of the authorized positions vacant because no one has been hired, because personnel are on military leave or because positions are filled by recruits who are not ready for full duties.

The Big Island is second with about 17 percent of its positions vacant, followed by Maui with about 16 percent and Kauai with 14 percent.

The huge distances on the Big Island might mean that officers there are feeling the greatest stress.

A fair number of officers live in Hilo, where housing is relatively inexpensive, but make daily drives to work in Kau, meaning a three-hour round trip, and to Kona and North Kohala, meaning a round trip of four hours or more, said Capt. Jay Enanoria. Those driving times would be added onto a 12-hour or longer day.

Honolulu Chief Boisse Correa said the public should not notice any change in service at this point, and Honolulu police have contingency plans if the number of vacancies grows too large.

But a Kona policeman who asked not to be identified said officers are getting tired.

John Stewart, a shop steward in Hilo for the police union, the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers, said officers are living with the long hours. "They're pretty much accepting it," he said.

Maj. Paul Ferreira suggested both comments are accurate. "You can only put the human body through so much," he said.

"I've got to give our officers credit. They're hanging in there. They all know everything is trying to be done to fill the vacancies," he said.

Kona has barracks where police can sleep overnight if they do not want to drive back to Hilo, Enanoria said. North Kohala and Kau do not.

Although long hours take officers away from their families, the hours also mean overtime income, which officers like, Ferreira said.

Funds for the overtime come from money allocated for the vacant positions, he said.

On the Big Island, vacancies started to get worse than usual in mid-2004, Ferreira said. The reasons are varied.

The creation of new anti-drug units drew experienced personnel out of patrol units, leaving them shorthanded, Ferreira said.

Kauai Chief K.C. Lum points to a starting salary of $36,132, no matter which county a new officer lives in.

"Would you go and apply for that kind of money?" he asked. An experienced officer can make up to $160,000 a year tax-free teaching police skills in Iraq, he said.

Sometimes Hawaii officers are hired away to mainland departments. "If they can steal ours, they're going to," Ferreira said.

Police cannot hire young adults right out of high school because federal law prohibits them from carrying a gun until they are 21, Ferreira said. By then a young person could have forgotten test-taking skills that will get him or her into a recruit class.

After screening, the Big Island accepts only 10 percent of applicants into the classes. Enanoria hopes to do better with more recruiting on the Hilo campus of the University of Hawaii and at Chaminade University, known for its criminal justice programs.

The Kauai department does psychological testing right upfront that weeds out risky applicants, Lum said. That department manages to graduate about 25 percent of its applicants, he said.

Police vacancies

Here is a county-by-county comparison of police department vacancies:

Sworn personnel positions

Honolulu	2,060
Big Island	428
Maui	352
Kauai	157

Vacancies, military leaves, recruits not on full duty

Honolulu	423
Big Island	74
Maui	56
Kauai	22

Percentage of vacancies for any reason

Honolulu	20.5
Big Island	17.2
Maui	15.9
Kauai	14.0