By Peter Boylan
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser
HONOLULU, Hawaii — The Honolulu Police Department is projecting a $34 million shortfall at the end of the year and exceeded its overtime budget by $6 million in the first quarter, contributing to difficult financial decisions and staff reassignments.
In an internal memo obtained by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Chief David Lazar wrote Thursday that HPD’s $34 million deficit, has been an “ongoing situation” inherited from multiple prior budget cycles. Of the shortfall, $31 million is needed to pay officers this fiscal year.
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The city proposed $396 million for HPD, including about $326 million for salaries — a $17 million reduction in salary funding from the previous year, according to an Oct. 9 letter from Lazar to City Council Chair Tommy Waters.
During the City Council’s review, HPD’s salary appropriation was cut by another $1.8 million, and another $1.8 million was restricted, resulting in a final salary budget of about $322 million.
Lazar’s Oct. 9 letter asked the Council for the transfer of $21.6 million to address the shortfall from “existing appropriations from areas where estimated lapses, cost savings, expenditure deferrals, or other available balances have been identified.”
The long-standing overtime issue caused by chronic short staffing is coupled with persistent community demand for more patrol officers. That will lead to the reassignment of 100 officers Nov. 1 to beats in all eight police districts and the department’s Central Receiving Division.
HPD has more than 400 sworn officer vacancies and Lazar wants officers.
Compounding the current shortfall, HPD had to pay for unfunded obligations. Those obligations included recruit incentives, retention bonuses, the School Resource Officer Program, Police Communications Office and 911 Emergency Response Operators bonuses.
“We also, thankfully, have hired more officers than anticipated this year. We had to make drastic but necessary reductions in order to balance the budget. This includes eliminating the purchase of new cars, radios, and other equipment and finding other savings to close the gap,” Lazar wrote to HPD officers Thursday. “This does not include the fact that we are allocated $6.8 million for HPD overtime each quarter. Unfortunately, because of our severe staffing shortage, we have exceeded our overtime budget by $6 million in the first quarter alone.”
Because HPD exceeded the overtime budget and is short on patrol, HPD’s executive staff decided to redistribute officers to focus on the “core mission” of HPD working in patrol, Lazar wrote.
Starting Nov. 1, 100 officers will be reassigned to patrol and central receiving. To make the move, Lazar and his leadership team are ending special assignments and putting officers on special assignments from nonpatrol elements to patrol districts. Officers going back to patrol will come from the chief’s office, fourth watch, Criminal Intelligence Unit, Community Affairs Division, Records, Traffic, Training, Narcotics/Vice, Administration, Major Events Division, Information Technology Division, Human Resources Division and the Misdemeanor Follow Up Detail.
Lazar acknowledged that the changes may not be met favorably by every officer.
“We understand that for some of you, these changes may be difficult. You may have spent years in your current assignment, built strong working relationships, or made plans around your existing schedules and responsibilities. We do not take any of that lightly,” Lazar told officers Thursday, asking them to rally around the decisions for the community. “This is not just about reducing overtime expenses. It is also about providing much needed relief to our officers in the districts, many of whom have been carrying a heavy workload for sometime. By increasing staffing on the road, we hope to ease some of that burden, reduce the risk of burnout, and most importantly, improve officer safety.”
A city spokesperson told the Star-Advertiser that by reassigning 100 officers to patrol duties, HPD is taking steps to reduce overtime costs, ease the burden on patrol officers and strengthen public safety.
“These are difficult but necessary decisions, and the Mayor supports the Chief’s efforts,” read a statement to the Star-Advertiser. “The projected $34 million budget shortfall is a separate issue that the Chief has been working closely with the Mayor and the administration to address.”
A letter already has been sent to the City Council outlining the department’s financial needs, and Lazar and his deputy chiefs have met with several Council members to discuss the budget situation.
“The administration remains committed to working collaboratively with the Council and HPD to address the shortfall while ensuring the department has the resources necessary to protect and serve our community,” said the city.
In an interview with the Star-Advertiser on Thursday, Lazar said the message he got from HPD officers and the community about needing more officers on the street is being received “loud and clear.”
“I needed to make a challenging but correct decision to get more officers on patrol,” Lazar said, stressing the need for a balanced HPD budget. “We need to make sure we have adequate funding to make sure we are staffing patrol, investigating crime (and keeping the community safe).”
Lazar said he and his team are putting together a budget proposal to meet HPD’s needs.
The State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers pushed back on the decision Thursday, saying “there is nothing to like about (the) decision, and while the community is losing critical neighborhood services, our top priority will always be ensuring that when a resident calls 9-1-1, an officer responds quickly.”
“We know nobody wanted to make this decision today, but we are a department surviving on bare-bones staffing and diminishing resources. It takes two years to replace every officer who leaves; our officers are already being pushed past their limits, and it is impossible for us to do any more with less. This must serve as a massive wake-up call for city leaders: if you want to restore lost services and prevent deeper cuts tomorrow, we must retain officers today,” SHOPO Vice President Jonathan Frye said.
Frye said the staffing decision was the direct result of “years of poor leadership, denial, and total inaction” to address staffing by previous HPD administrations.
In the Oct. 9 letter to Waters, Lazar noted that the $21.6 million transfer request does not “further increase” HPD’s current budget allotment.
“This transfer request is therefore necessary to ensure sufficient salary funding through the remainder of (the fiscal year), and approval of the transfer will assist the HPD in maintaining uninterrupted public safety services, supporting recruitment and retention efforts, meeting negotiated compensation obligations, and ensuring continued operational stability through the close of the fiscal year,” Lazar wrote.
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