Even if it’s in an interim capacity, the unanimous selection of Rade Vanic as police chief of the Honolulu Police Department is loaded with responsibility. It’s a particularly precarious time for the force, with questions swirling about two recent police-involved fatal shootings, amid a national backdrop of police-brutality charges and trials.
So Vanic will have his work cut out for him, when he assumes the interim mantle on June 1 from outgoing Chief Susan Ballard. She abruptly announced her retirement before the end of her contract, amid some criticism from the oversight Honolulu Police Commission.
It speaks well of Vanic, an assistant police chief with 21 years of service, that he has expertise across all branches of HPD, including currently leading the Administrative Bureau, after commanding the Information Technology Division and patrol District 3 (Pearl City/Waipahu). Vanic’s appointment drew respect from the rank-and-file police union, SHOPO; and Wednesday’s commission unanimity was a vote of confidence in his ability to steady HPD through these tumultuous times.
In fact, it’s his solid public-facing work, such as before the commission and the City Council, that will be a particularly needed asset. In these intense times focused on police conduct, the commission is rightly demanding more transparency. That was certainly underscored in its most-recent evaluation of Ballard, who came under increasing scrutiny over the past pandemic year for accountability in her leadership.
But it’s the April fatal, unrelated shootings of Iremamber Sykap, 16, on Kalakaua Avenue, and of Lindani Myeni, 29, in Nuuanu, that continue to loom large, even as internal investigations are underway. If HPD under Ballard does not release HPD bodycam videos and 911 calls in the Sykap incident — which it should — it will fall on Vanic to do so. The lingering absence of information will only deepen mistrust of HPD and the adherence to its own codes of conduct. And the Myeni case is simmering internationally, with the victim’s hometown in South Africa clamoring for answers into his death.
The HPD commission will soon be posting the police chief vacancy and job description. Despite recent criticism, HPD had been on a hard-earned rebound from the abuse-of-power corruption under Ballard’s disgraced predecessor, Louis Kealoha. Let’s hope Vanic can keep righting HPD, so that Honolulu’s next permanent chief will inherit a solid foundation of integrity to build upon.
