Task force proposes housing stipends, bonuses to fill HPD vacancies

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - With more than 600 officer and civilian openings at the Honolulu Police Department, a new report is offering solutions.

Lawmakers and law enforcement leaders say the key to reducing vacancies is incentives.

Honolulu City Council Vice Chair Andria Tupola led a task force to produce a 26-page report on ways to increase staffing at HPD. The document mentioned that housing stipends have helped with staffing woes at police departments across the country.

Tupola and the task force’s report suggest offering a $500 monthly housing stipend at HPD.

“We all know housing is extremely expensive here, and it’s one of the chief reasons why a lot of individuals that choose to leave,” said police union vice president Jonathan Frye, who was on the 11-member task force.

The report also recommends a $2,000 referral bonus.

“You’re always going to want to work with friends and family that you know, that you trust, that you want to see every day,” Tupola added.

Other incentives listed include parking allowances for civilian employees, mentoring for recruits, and retention bonuses for longtime officers.

The report also mentioned the Kauai Police Department’s zero-premium employee health insurance, which supporters say would be a huge help at HPD, where 50 civilian employees are expected to retire soon.

“It’s one of the other things that I think incentivizes any employee,” Tupola said.

In addition to recruitment and retention, the report also discussed applicant dropouts.

Last year, more than 2,000 people applied to become uniformed officers at HPD, a 19% increase over the year before, but only 98 were hired.

Tupola explained that some applicants did not schedule an exam or failed to show up.

“Which means that people might on the onset be interested, but then maybe not follow through because it was like an easy application, but then the whole process they’re not really interested in,” Tupola added.

To discourage recruits from giving up on the academy, Tupola suggested requiring them to pay for it.

“If you’ve had any type of thought that this is not the career for you, you can easily take off because you don’t owe any money for the training,” Tupola said.

The report comes after all four counties adopted the police union’s contract, with a 20 percent wage increase over four years.

“That is going to be one of the hugest contributors towards recruitment, we believe, for the future,” Frye said.

HPD’s interim chief Rade Vanic was also a part of the task force and sent Hawaii News Now the following statement:

“The HPD remains fully committed to providing consistent, effective public-safety services for our community. While we continue working with City leadership, bargaining units, and community partners to strengthen our ranks, I want to highlight the strength of the officers and civilian employees we do have. They work hard every day to keep Honolulu safe. We’re actively improving recruitment, training, and support for our team so they have the resources they need to serve our residents at the highest level.”

The police commission is currently searching for the next permanent chief, who will decide whether to implement the task force’s advice.

“Whoever does become the chief, these suggestions are really going to help him or her succeed,” Tupola pointed out.

The city council’s vice chair plans to formally present the proposal to the police commission on Dec. 17, then to the city council’s public safety committee in January.