The head of the police officers union in Hawaii told City Council members on Wednesday that officers are given a standard of conduct differential pay allowance because officers are expected to carry their firearms and confront danger 24 hours a day, unlike other government workers.

The allowance raised concerns among county mayors and others last week when it was announced that a binding arbitration agreement issued this month gave officers not just a 16.8 percent salary increase over four years, but also a raise in the differential pay from about $1 an hour to $4 an hour over the same period.

Tenari Ma’afala, president of the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers, told Council Budget Committee members that officers are "compelled, while we’re off duty, to act and not sit still because we could get terminated for cowardice and inaction." He added, "We have to be prepared."

Ma’afala recounted how he shot and killed an 18-year-old suspect on New Year’s Eve in 1998 while visiting his parents’ Mayor Wright Homes apartment. The man had been firing a gun, then turned the weapon on Ma’afala.

People knew Ma’afala was in the neighborhood and went straight to his family’s home to find him, he said. "So am I obligated to get out there? Of course I am," he said. "Had I slept through it, the most scariest thing is people might have died."

Ma’afala said his wife and children have been taught that if they are out together and suddenly see him moving away from them, it likely means he is about to face a dangerous situation and that they are to get in their car and leave quickly.

"That gives you a little snapshot of what we have to deal with every day," he said.

Ma’afala gave the impassioned explanation after being queried by Councilman Ron Menor, who said he had taken calls from constituents complaining that the SHOPO contract may have been excessive in some aspects.

Menor later said he was satisfied with Ma’afala’s response. Other Council members also expressed support for the contract before voting unanimously for Resolution 13-161, approving it.

The contract will cost $200 million through four years, about $43.4 million of which is for the standard of conduct differential pay increase, the city says.