Staffing shortfalls have long been a concern for the Honolulu Police Department, but the situation may become more critical as O'ahu's population continues to rise and more senior officers become eligible to retire.

The number of officers eligible to retire grew 43 percent from 2003 to 2006. As of March 31, about one in 10 officers was eligible to retire. That number is expected to continue to rise over the next five years or so.

At the same time, filling positions has been a constant battle for the department, and the need for police officers will continue to increase as more homes are developed.

"It's going to get worse," primarily due to population growth, said Assistant Chief Michael Tucker, who oversees HPD's Central Patrol Bureau.

The looming surge in potential retirements also is a big part of the problem, Maj. Bart Huber said.

"We realized that in the future it looks like we could be facing a crisis situation with the number of officers in the department because across the nation it's happening," Huber said. "Baby boomers are retiring."

HPD supports higher pay for officers and is stepping up recruiting efforts. However, there's no simple answer to the problem because the cost of new police positions is weighed against other competing county needs, Tucker said. And, "alongside with the growth in calls for service, we already have a challenge in filling our own current vacancies."

The need for more police officers is not lost on Evelyn Souza, who has seen dramatic changes in the Makakilo area since she moved there in the early 1970s. More housing and a population boom have become a "magnet to people hellbent on breaking the law," she said.

"There's more traffic, there's more people. With that comes more security problems, more infractions," said Souza, a 59-year-old Parent Community Networking Coordinator at Makakilo Elementary School.

Souza complained of chronic truants as well as drug deals occurring up the hill from her home. She's also had to wait hours for an officer to respond to noncritical calls.

"I'm not saying they're not doing their job," she said. "I applaud them for what they do. There's just not enough of them. ... You can't do much with your hands tied. Otherwise, it's just going to get worse and worse."

POSITIONS UP 3.8%

The police department has 2,112 authorized officer positions, its highest level ever. That's up 3.8 percent from 2001 levels, roughly the same percentage growth as O'ahu's population during that time. But police officials have said they still need more positions. As of March 31, however, only 1,879 of those positions were filled, leaving the department with 233 vacancies.

That's an 11 percent shortfall, up slightly from last year, which showed the lowest vacancy rate since at least 2001.

There are 157 recruits currently in training, but the department loses an average of 153 officers a year to retirement, resignations and dismissals, according to Maj. Dave Kajihiro, head of HPD's Human Resources Division.

Officers can retire after 25 years of service; if they're 55 years old or older, they must have at least 10 years of service. They must work at least 32 years to receive the maximum retirement benefit, which is equal to 80 percent of the average of their highest three years of pay.

While the number eligible to retire has grown, the number of officers actually retiring over the past few years has increased only slightly. On average, patrol officers retire with 27 years of service, Police Chief Boisse Correa said in written testimony to a Senate committee last month. Although most are only in their late 40s or early 50s, they retire because they are eligible to collect retirement and get jobs in the federal or private sector, he said.

"The whole department is suffering from a certain percentage of vacancies," said Huber, who oversees the police district covering Wahiawa, Mililani and the North Shore.

The department faces tougher challenges as more baby boomers retire, he said.

Plus, there's "a smaller pool of candidates, and the unemployment rate has enabled people to look for all kinds of jobs," he said. "It's very competitive, and this job isn't for everyone.

"We get people who drop out, get lured away by other agencies after they've been trained here, or retire after 25 (years). So it's a constant battle for our human resources division."

Police department vacancies are a concern for Mililani resident Bill Bass. His home, as well as his daughter's Mililani home, were broken into late last year. Around the same time, his daughter's and son-in-law's cars were stolen in separate incidents.

Mililani also was hit with a string of home burglaries this year. Police last month arrested a teenage boy and three men believed to be responsible for many of the 78 home burglaries reported in the area since the beginning of the year.

Bass said he was troubled that it took police about 45 minutes to respond to calls reporting that his home and his daughter's home had been burglarized.

"That's really too long, and it's because they're shorthanded," he said.

SALARY REVIEW

That prompted Bass, vice-chairman of the Mililani/Waipio/Melemanu Neighborhood Board, to push for resolutions seeking greater police presence in Mililani. The neighborhood board this year adopted the resolutions, one of which calls for the city to "review and adjust" police salaries to help HPD recruit and retain officers.

"We'd just like to get them up to full strength," Bass said, adding that he has since been seeing more police in the neighborhood.

"I think if (criminals) know that there's an officer routinely patrolling a neighborhood they'd be a lot less bold than they have been," he said.

Although recruiting and retaining qualified officers has been a challenge, the department is still able to serve and protect the public, police officials said.

Staffing shortfalls — in part because of vacation and sick leave — don't occur every day, but when they do, it often means officers will be called on to work overtime, police say. Sometimes officers are shifted around or will have to cover larger areas, which can increase response times to non-urgent calls.

"I know sometimes the community is frustrated that (police) may not respond immediately to a parking violation, because the officer may be tied up with something a little more serious, like an assault," said Maj. Michael Moses, who oversees the police district covering Kapolei, Wai'anae and 'Ewa. "The community just has to be a little more patient, because we have to prioritize the calls so we can meet the public safety demands."

As far as the staffing situation, "I wouldn't say it's at a critical stage right now," Moses said. "But getting the positions filled would be a little more comfortable. The workload would be spread out a little more evenly and the fatigue factor would be lessened as well.

"Right now we're at a situation where a lot of officers don't want to work the overtime because they're just putting in too many hours," Moses said.

Police and union officials cite a combination of factors contributing to the department's recruitment and retention problems. Many say better salaries and benefits would help attract more candidates and help prevent officers from being lured away to Mainland police departments, which have been recruiting in Hawai'i.

The biggest issue is officer salaries, said Tenari Maafala, president of the State of Hawai'i Organization of Police Officers state board of directors.

Hawai'i officers' salaries are about 21 percent behind their West Coast counterparts in comparable jurisdictions, Maafala said. Starting annual salary for police officers is $39,072, according to the HPD. That's up 23 percent from 2001. But starting pay for San Francisco police officers is $64,000, Maafala said.

With police departments statewide challenged with recruitment and retention issues, the union is "aggressively negotiating" with the counties on a contract with higher salaries and benefits, he said. The current contract expires June 30.

Todd Apo, City Council budget chairman, said the department is making a good effort in trying to increase the workforce and that he has been talking with department leaders about possible incentive programs.

When it comes to higher salaries, "the easy answer is yes, more money is going to help," Apo said. But the details are the harder part, he said, noting that the council doesn't have a role in negotiations.

"Ultimately we need to be able to convince the taxpayers that this is why we're asking for this additional money," he said.

"We will always be supportive of public safety; it's the most important function that city government provides. So hopefully they can come up with some solutions and we'll stand ready to deal with the financial implications of them."

HPD supports higher salaries and other incentives, and is looking at various policy changes to be more employee friendly, Kajihiro said.

MAINLAND RECRUITING

And in the meantime, the department has been stepping up efforts to recruit people on the Mainland, as well as women, to the force, he said. The department just received a position for a permanent female recruiter and plans to attend more career fairs. Visits to community colleges and high schools will increase, as will television and print advertisements to attract candidates.

HPD and SHOPO this year also pushed unsuccessfully for legislation that would have increased the maximum retirement allowance to 100 percent of officers' average final compensation as an incentive to defer retirement.

A hurdle in getting higher salaries and retirement and other benefits is convincing elected officials to separate police from other bargaining units such as firefighters and emergency medical personnel, Maafala said.

"They're saying why us and why not the other bargaining units," he said. "My argument has always been that we're very unique as police officers in what we do. ... We have the most in the line of duty deaths, and ... our officers are exposed to (situations) where they have to make a split decision to take a life to save a life."

"Right now it's borderline crisis," Maafala said of the vacancy issue. "The community's safe, but as it stands right now, the police officers are trying to make do. This is a credit from top to bottom ... to our officers who just continue to come to work amid all these challenges and doing what they can do best to protect the community.

"But again, at the end of the day, we're human beings and the burnout factor is an issue."

Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com.