Crime doesn’t pay, the saying goes, but fighting crime doesn’t pay that much, either. At least it doesn’t pay enough to overcome recruiting barriers for Police Chief Susan Ballard, who is contending with a daunting staffing challenge at the Honolulu Police Department.
A kind of enforcement triage is in place, with emphasis placed on the pursuit of violent offenders as opposed to those committing property crimes. While understandable in the near term, it’s intolerable beyond that: Property crimes represent too large a proportion of the incidents afflicting the community.
Weathering the staffing shortage effectively demands a stronger partnership with the community, including giving the public the technological means to effectively exchange information.
Setting the department on a more sustainable course for the long haul will mean finding ways to attract and retain new officers. It’s a difficult challenge for professions offering a mid-range salary — too high to qualify for lower-income assistance, too low to afford most market housing.
Whatever the reasons for the officer shortage — the salary scale, an aging baby-boomer workforce entering retirement, the low unemployment rate giving potential hires better options elsewhere, or some other factor — the current situation has put Ballard in a tough spot.
Soon after she was promoted as chief, Ballard told the Honolulu City Council about cutting services, including investigation of some felonies by detectives. But in order to keep staffing of patrol districts at a minimum 80% level, the chief authorized overtime.
It’s costly. HPD’s spending ledger for the 2019 fiscal year shows a budget-busting $20.7 million in overtime pay, more than half of that for the needed patrol shifts. It’s also a long-term problem: The vacancy level has been stubbornly persistent. The June 2019 figure stood at 270 officer vacancies out of a total of 2,143 positions — 20 more unfilled slots since November 2017.
Violent crimes will be pursued to the fullest extent. HPD affirms that all cases with viable leads will be investigated. But nonviolent crimes lacking leads must be documented and back-burnered, said Deputy Chief Jonathan Grems — still active but not taking up precious investigatory resources.
While that policy may be expected, it is decidedly not optimal.
According to the department’s 2018 annual report, property crime — including burglary, larceny and motor-vehicle theft — represented the vast majority of cases. Of the year’s total of 31,091, these three categories tallied 28,651 cases.
By comparison, the grouping of major violent crimes comprising murder, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault added up to 2,440 cases.
Clearly, the public will have to step up. Residents can upgrade their home security, and look out for each other through Neighborhood Watch programs and the like. They also can help the police help them. HPD is upgrading its online reporting system to boost crucial public input; also, citizens should use the Honolulu 311 app to report nonemergency incidents.
As for recruitment: Police officials need keep the pay competitive, but that’s not the only issue. Six months of Academy training may deter recruits from outside Hawaii. Shortening the time for those with experience makes sense, if done with care.
Police work is a job filled with risk, as demonstrated by Monday’s shooting of an officer near Pokai Bay. HPD, with community support, must confront the need for a right-sized police force head-on.
Smart investments can enable efficient use of limited staffing for now, while building Honolulu’s police protection over time — as little time as possible.
