July 1 is the 40th anniversary of his date of hire.

"Just like in coaching, you want to go out on top," Donohue said today. "I've accomplished all of my goals."

Donohue, 61, said he decided to retire six months ago. He was sworn in as Honolulu's eighth police chief on April 20, 1998.

Police Commission Chairman Ron Taketa, who was involved in the selection process for Donohue and his predecessor, Michael Nakamura, praised Donohue's tenure.

"First of all. we're sad to see him go," Taketa said. "He's done an excellent job and accomplished a lot.

"The public owes Chief Donohue and his family a debt of gratitude for his life-long service to community," Taketa added. "He can be credited with making lots of improvements through very difficult financial times."

Taketa pointed to HPD's accreditation last July by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies and the recent accreditation of the department's Communications Division as two of Donohue's defining accomplishments.

"(HPD) is only one of 14 major cities' police departments that have been accredited," Taketa said. "The goal for the next chief will be to get the training facility accredited. That would make (HPD) the only major police department in the country to have achieved all three accreditations."

Donohue has had to deal with several controversies during his term has police chief.

Earlier this year, homicide supervising Lt. Bill Kato and four other officers from the Career Criminal Unit were disciplined for not following department procedure in a shooting that led to the death of Officer Glen Gaspar in March 2003.

Donohue also was named in a whistleblower suit by Detective Ken Kamakana alleging that Kamakana was unfairly transferred from the elite Criminal Intelligence Unit after Kamakana reported wrongdoing in the unit to FBI. The city agreed to pay Kamakana $650,000 late last year to settle the suit without admitting wrongdoing.

Also, police were replaced at the Honolulu International Airport by state officers because of alleged overtime abuses.

Taketa said the Police Commission will discuss the selection process for the next chief at its meeting today.

An interim chief, likely either senior deputy Glen Kajiyama or deputy Paul Putzulu, will be named to replace Donohue.

Donohue was appointed to a second five-year term April 17, 2003.

Donohue plans to devote time to his family and karate school. As he reflected on his police career, Donohue's thoughts shifted to 1977, when he earned a bachelor's degree in general studies from Chaminade University.

"I worked the midnight shift and somehow got through school to get that degree," Donohue said. He also has an associate degree in police science from Honolulu Community College and is a graduate of the FBI National Executive Institute.

• Correction: The last name of Police Commission Chairman Ron Taketa was misspelled in a previous version of this story.