Newly appointed Assistant Honolulu Police Chief Donna Andersen will lean heavily on her support staff and commanders as she prepares to tackle collective bargaining with the police officers union while acclimating herself to her new job, she said yesterday.

Andersen was promoted from major to assistant chief of the Honolulu Police Department's administrative bureau yesterday in a ceremony at HPD headquarters. She replaces Assistant Chief Robert Prasser, who retired at the end of the year after 31 years with the department.

Starting immediately, Andersen must prepare to negotiate a new contract with the State of Hawai'i Organization of Police Officers. The negotiations will be tempered by a pending lawsuit filed on behalf of more than 1,200 Honolulu police officers alleging violations of the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The lawsuit goes to court in February.

"Obviously you don't catch up in two weeks with what's been going on over the last two years," she said. "I have a lot of reading to do."

Andersen, a 22-year HPD veteran, will oversee the Human Resources Division, Finance Division, Training Division, Office of Accreditation and Labor Relations. She was commander of Internal Affairs.

Born in Pennsylvania and raised in Nevada, she holds a Master of Arts degree in the humanities, from California State University-Dominguez Hills, and a Bachelor of Arts in law enforcement and administration, from San Jose State University. She is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.

Prior to her HPD service, Andersen spent 12 years working in alcohol beverage control and as a labor investigator in California.

She is the department's second female assistant chief. Barbara Wong, who retired in 2000, was the first.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.