HPD applications increase after $25K bonus announcement

HONOLULU (KHON2) — A $25,000 bonus for new Honolulu Police Department recruits is an unprecedented incentive for the department, the goal was to attract more people into the force, and according to the department, it is working.

Honolulu Police Captain Parker Bode said their monthly number of applicants has increased ever since the announcement about the bonuses was made during Mayor Rick Blangiardi’s State of the City address.

Bode said, “We’ve noticed an increase in applications, pre-announcement, incentive announcement, it was 35 applications per week post announcement now we’re seeing 54 applications per week.”

The applicant then schedules a written test within 30 days of submitting. This officially begins the process, which will challenge the applicant’s physical and mental capacity as well as background.

Bode said, “A psych interview and psych exam, there are a lot of steps and it really depends if they successfully pass those steps.”

The application pool will significantly decrease after the tests, there are four police academy classes a year, each of them fitting 25 recruits. A new class of recruits just began this week, the first class to be eligible for the $25,000 incentive.

Bode said, “Shooting for about 100 officers a year.”

The state’s police officers’ union spokesperson, Dustin DeRollo said that still falls short of the more than 400 vacant positions.

DeRollo said, “Hiring 100 new recruits will not keep up with the number of officers who retire, who separate those are the folks who voluntarily go to another agency.”

The Maui Police Department is interested in offering a $30,000 new hire bonus. The Maui County Council will meet on Thursday to determine whether there is enough funding to provide the incentive bonus.

A Kauai Police Department spokesperson said they are considering all options. While the Hawaii Police Department Chief Benjamin Moszkowicz said they offer $1,000 to new hires to cover items like uniforms, but he is not interested in offering larger chunks of money.

“I’m worried about the effectiveness of those campaigns sometimes are short-lived from our perspective,” said Moszkowicz. “Sometimes you end up chasing officers who might accept the job for the wrong reasons.”