The Honolulu Police Department is in a period of transition with Chief Louis Kealoha retiring amid a federal investigation, the search will start for a new leader.
Many police departments across the country are having difficulties with recruiting.
Sunnyvale California Public Safety is looking for a few good officers. Dayton Pang, Deputy Chief with Sunnyvale Public Safety is coming to Hawaii to do it. “In California we’re having difficulty all over in the mainland hiring qualified people.”
This is happening when the Honolulu Police Department is looking for officers of its own. Right now, HPD is staffed with about 2,000 officers, and there are 90 vacancies.
Sunnyvale is hoping to lure away some local prospects, taking out a recent advertisement in the newspaper. Pang says he’s had success recruiting in Hawaii in the past, “We went back and it was a very good recruitment. We actually hired 12 new officers, and all 12 of them are currently working at Public Safety. They are doing a great job.”
The starting salary at Sunnyvale Public Safety is just south of $100,000, but you’ll need to perform police, EMS and fire duties. For HPD, police officers salaries start at about $63,000. As for crime Sunnyvale comes in much lower than Oahu in terms of each of the main crime statistics, but it’s population is also significantly less, just over 150,000 in 2015 compared to just under 1 million on Oahu.
HPD graduates two to thre classes each year, and each class will have about 30 to 50 people. Still, each time Sunnyvale arrives at Honolulu airport, Pang likes his chances. “Just overall they fit right into our department and they are great employees. That’s what keeps causing us to go back to Hawaii to look for employees because they work out so well for the city.”
