The Honolulu Police Department (HPD) needs new officers, and women are underrepresented on the force. That’s spurred HPD to reach out to young women in Hawaii high schools and colleges for the first time — a “first” that helps explain why past versions of the force had men outnumbering women by nearly 10 to 1.

While HPD ranks slightly above the national average for women on the force, only about 13% — 240 female officers out of 1,800-plus officers — are women. That proportion’s up by a meager 1% since 2015, when 212 women served.