Low morale and a reportedly understaffed enforcement arm of the Honolulu Liquor Commission has led to “inconsistent and inefficient enforcement patterns” on Oahu, according to an internal review released Tuesday.

The Liquor Commission is scheduled to hear a presentation Thursday from Hui Chen, a strategic adviser to the city managing director, on a months-long review of the commission’s policies and practices in enforcing liquor laws on Oahu. The commission approved the review in February after “ongoing complaints” relating to its Enforcement Services Section.

The review found unclear policies and procedures for liquor investigators to follow, a lack of structured training and performance evaluations, unreliable enforcement data and a nonexistent system to track and investigate complaints.

“The findings of this internal review have revealed the need for significant improvements within the agency’s operation,” said Mayor Rick Blangiardi in a news release Tuesday. “These findings are disturbing and unacceptable and we must restore trust in the agency. We will be implementing comprehensive reforms to ensure the commission operates in a manner that is ethical, accountable, and consistent with the values we hold dear as a community.”

There were seven active liquor enforcement investigators as of Feb. 15, according to the review, which is just one-third of the investigator positions available. At the time, there were 1,463 businesses licensed with the Liquor Commission, or 209 licensed businesses for every investigator.

Fifteen commission staff, including former employees and all active enforcement investigators, were interviewed and indicated issues with low morale, understaffing and low pay. They also complained about a lack of standardized or consistent policies and procedures when conducting reviews of businesses and reportedly felt “no sense of purpose, no standard to meet, and no clear objectives,” according to Chen’s review.

Investigators said they felt isolated, with daily work schedules from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m., and inadequately trained to do their jobs. Some complained about supervisors who were “sensitive” to criticism, and the report found job advancement was limited.

Chen also found significant and unexplained enforcement and inspection discrepancies between geographical areas. For example, between January 2016 and March of this year, there were 1,027 inspections of businesses in the ZIP code area that includes Pearl City but only 275 in the Waianae ZIP code area, even though both contain about the same number of licensed liquor establishments.

Similarly, 469 inspections were conducted at 73 businesses in the ZIP code area including parts of Kalihi, and 1,195 at 61 businesses in the Waipahu ZIP code, or 6.4 inspections per licensee in the Kalihi area and 19.6 inspections per licensee in Waipahu, the report said.

Liquor dispensers, which include bars and entertainment venues, made up less than 15% of licensed establishments but represented nearly 73% of those inspected more than once per 30 days, although that could possibly be attributed to the fact that Liquor Commission investigators work night shifts.

Dispenser, cabaret and brewpub licensees experienced the most inspections per business, the report found. Dispensers and cabaret licensees were also issued the most violations per business, beating out other license classifications such as hotel, restaurant and wholesale.

Some 14% of the violations handed out by liquor investigators were because businesses failed to file timely gross sales reports, which was the most common offense, the report said. About 10% of violations came from a failure to file timely annual employee lists, and 9% stemmed from alcohol sales to minors.

According to the review, complaints to the Liquor Commission spiked in 2020 and 2021 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when rules around social gatherings, business hours and liquor sales were constantly shifting.

Chen’s review included a caveat that it could make only broad observations about enforcement patterns within the Liquor Commission because the data from investigators was so unreliable.

One inspector reportedly took 10 hours to conduct a single inspection and two minutes to do two others at businesses about 4 miles apart, the report said. Records show the same inspector conducting multiple inspections at the same time — all within a 24-hour period.

Multiple inspectors reported visiting the same restaurant on the same day and being in multiple places at once. In the first months of 2023, 146 data entries were modified more than 34 days after they were initially entered, the review said.

Ultimately, Chen’s review recommended updating and standardizing recruitment, evaluation and promotion processes, better data collection and better trust within the Liquor Commission.