Associated Press
HONOLULU (AP) - Hawaii’s four county police chiefs met Monday to discuss how to recruit and retain more police officers.
There are currently 311 police officer vacancies statewide including 264 in Honolulu, 22 on Maui, 16 on Kauai and nine on the Big Island.
The police chiefs say higher pay is needed to keep their officers in Hawaii and prevent more officers from moving to mainland departments.
“We lose about 26 people a year and a lot of them want more for their families,” Maui Police Chief Tom Phillips said. “They don’t want to work two or three jobs like a lot of our officers do.”
Honolulu Police Chief Lee Donohue said the shortage is having an impact on the department. Although the demand for police calls are being met, overtime is sometimes necessary, he said.
“But then you know we’re cutting back in other areas, like prevention,” Donohue said.
The starting pay for a police officer in Hawaii is about $32,000, about 10 to 20 percent less than departments on the West Coast.
Kauai Police Chief George Freitas said he doesn’t believe the counties don’t have enough money for police officers.
“Whenever somebody says there’s no money to do anything for that project, that means your project doesn’t have enough priority, that doesn’t mean you don’t have the money,” Freitas said.