Cuts in HPD services possible
By Peter Boylan
Advertiser Staff Writer
Honolulu police might have to cut non-essential services such as traffic enforcement and parking-lot patrols at University of Hawai'i football games unless more officers are hired, Police Chief Boisse Correa told a City Council committee yesterday.
has seven and Los Angeles has 2.5. Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser
Appearing at his first public council hearing since taking over in August, Correa said patrol beats on O'ahu are staffed at 80 percent and the department is considering cutting some services to increase the amount of officers patrolling neighborhoods.
Honolulu Police Chief Boisse Correa told the City Council about the manpower shortage his department faces. He said Honolulu has about 2.2 officers per 1,000 residents, which he called "relatively low" for the nation's 12th largest city. By comparison, he said, Chicago has five officers per 1,000, Washington, D.C.
"We're really worrying about the beats and getting the officers into the community," he said. "If it's a matter of convenience (and not public safety) you're going to be inconvenienced. Hire special duty (officers) or we won't be there."
Correa said the department has already informed UH and Aloha Stadium officials that they will either have to pay overtime for additional officers or seek other forms of enforcement.
Correa's appearance was at the invitation of the council's Public Safety Committee, which asked him to present his vision for the department and field questions from council members about specific issues.
"We just wanted to see how you're doing," said Councilman Gary Okino, the committee's chairman. "We've given you time and we want to see how you've established yourself in the department."
Much of Correa's presentation centered on manpower. For example, he said Honolulu has about 2.2 officers per 1,000 residents, a figure he described as "relatively low" for the nation's 12th largest city.
By comparison, Correa said, Chicago has about five officers per 1,000 residents, Washington, D.C., has seven, and Los Angeles has 2.5.
To staff every patrol district at 100 percent, the department would need an additional 260 new officers in fiscal year 2006, at a cost to the city of between $10 million to $12 million.
The department has 2,062 authorized positions for sworn officers, but as of May 31, only 1,839 of the positions were filled, according to HPD's human resources department, leaving 223 vacancies.
The department also maintains an authorized, albeit unfinanced, training pool of 360 positions. Of those 360, 208 are filled by trainees who are paid with the money allocated for the unfilled officer positions.
The department's net vacancy is 15 positions.
On average, the department loses about 150 officers a year to retirement, police departments on the Mainland, or other opportunities outside of law enforcement.
Correa acknowledged that the net vacancy total was the lowest in at least a decade, but said with a reduced budget, he must focus his resources on patrolling communities and keeping as many officers on the street as possible. During the most recent budgeting cycle, Correa said he needed $203 million to operate effectively and $179 million to stay afloat. The final department budget had $176 million.
Since 1998, 102 officers have left HPD for jobs with Mainland departments, and Hawai'i's increasing cost of living makes the prospects of a comfortable life nearly impossible for local officers, he said.
"The average officer makes $57,000 a year," he said. "There is no way that an officer who serves the community and loves the community can buy a home. The new generation won't stay in the police department because of the benefits."
Correa opened his presentation by discussing the priorities that he's tackled since taking over in August, such as targeting career criminals, implementing new oversight on officer overtime requests, recruiting more officers, improving homeland security, and ensuring the efficient management of technology.
He also informed the council that the department is set to go to trial in February over a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of more than 1,500 police officers who are seeking compensation for alleged violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
The lawsuit alleges that the city improperly calculated overtime, employees were not compensated for all work associated with the job and that the city's comp-time policies violate the FLSA.
Correa told the committee he could not comment on the pending litigation.
Reach Peter Boylan at 535-8110 or pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com
