The Honolulu Police Department once again will use a uniformed officer as official spokesperson as part of Chief Arthur “Joe” Logan’s plan to improve transparency and public communication.
Logan told the Honolulu Police Commission during its meeting Wednesday that Mayor Rick Blangiardi’s communications team met with police Monday to help improve HPD’s communications plan.
Logan and Blangiardi caught up about communications after the mayor’s Cabinet meeting Wednesday morning.
The City Council and Blangiardi also are considering whether to restore public access to nontactical radio traffic by entering into legal agreements with Hawaii news organizations.
The department employs media liaison personnel, not public information officers, Logan explained. The last uniformed HPD spokesperson, Maj. Frank Fujii, retired in 2009.
Media liaisons help officers and civilian police staff prepare, package and disseminate information to the media upon request or at the direction of HPD’s leadership team.
“As far as on camera (or on the record) that should be a uniformed person. Either myself at serious incidents … or things of … notoriety,” Logan said. “We are now working on identifying … an individual to bring on as a spokesperson. That will … not necessarily be their full-time job but that will be their role in the department.”
HPD’s media liaison office is currently training the shift lieutenants in each of HPD’s eight patrol districts to take questions and respond to media requests.
“Their role is to provide, on scene, information to the media, at actual events,” said Logan, speaking to commissioners.
That training is part of a comprehensive communications plan Logan is putting in place as part of his strategic initiative. The department is also establishing after-hours, weekend and holiday media contacts and is considering a regularly scheduled media availability with Logan.
HPD’s website, social media feeds on X, Facebook and Instagram are being used 24/7 to update the public about police activity and warnings.
The enhanced efforts to share more information with the public are also in response to criticism Logan received after a New Year’s Day-long manhunt and gun battles left the suspect dead and two officers hospitalized with gunshot wounds.
Mayor Rick Blangiardi and county lawmakers made it clear the department’s public communications must improve.
Commissioners put on Wednesday’s agenda the formation of a permitted interaction group to review the Honolulu Police Department’s “media-related policies and other jurisdictions’ policies.”
That group will look at how comparable county police departments manage their communications plan and responses to media requests. Members of the permitted interaction group will look at best practices from the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement and other policy groups.
Commission Chair Doug Chin said the permitted interaction group will help commissioners “see what we can do to help the department improve its media relations and communications with the public.”
“I think that it’s very timely,” Commission Vice Chair Kenneth Silva said. “I think we can always improve on the communications’ piece. I think, the expectation from the public … is really high.”
