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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, February 20, 2006

Web site built to pan police chief

By Peter Boylan
Advertiser Staff Writer

The wife of a Honolulu police officer has created a Web site dedicated to panning Chief Boisse Correa's decision to move more than 1,100 officers off a 12-hour, three-day-a-week work schedule.

The Web site, www.shameonyouboisse.com, went online Friday morning.

Honolulu entrepreneur Elizabeth Hata, who created the site, said she did it because officers affected by the change aren't allowed to speak publicly under the department's standards of conduct. Hata asked that the name of her husband, a 19-year veteran of the force, not be published.

Hata said she believes the schedule change for patrol officers — to an eight-hour, five-day workweek — is retribution for a survey released in December by the O'ahu chapter of the police union, the State of Hawai'i Organization of Police Officers.

In the survey of Honolulu police officers, 76.1 percent agreed that Correa "never or almost never communicates accurately or precisely with them," 73.7 percent stated Correa "never or almost never works well with line officers toward common goals," and 78 percent said morale was so low they wished they had a different police chief.

The survey was returned by 1,068 of the O'ahu chapter's 1,877 members.

"I started this Web site because I wanted officers to have a place to go to voice their opinions and let them know that we (the families) haven't forgotten about them," Hata said. "It upsets me I'm being affected by it and the community doesn't understand the severity of the situation."

Correa viewed the site Friday and declined comment.

Seventy-one comments were posted on Hata's Web site as of 3:30 p.m. yesterday. More than half criticized Correa's decision to make the schedule change, or his leadership in general. A handful blamed SHOPO, and several said officers should stop complaining.

Proponents of the current "3/12" schedule say it allows for more opportunities to work second jobs, perform special-duty assignments and spend time with family.

Critics of the 3/12 schedule, including Correa's administration, have said it exhausts officers, ruins the continuity of criminal investigations and discourages community interaction.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.