A new proposal would give Honolulu’s mayor the ability to hire and fire the city’s chief of police — a move that proponents say could improve oversight of the Honolulu Police Department.
The Public First Law Center recently submitted the proposal to the Honolulu Charter Commission, which began accepting potential amendments to the city’s charter two weeks ago.
Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi has expressed interest in giving the mayor’s office more authority to appoint the chief. This comes after a public back-and-forth over the firing and hiring of Honolulu’s police chief. Blangiardi was involved in former Chief Joe Logan’s resignation in June, and then publicly advocated for Logan’s replacement.
The Honolulu Police Commission currently has the sole authority to do so. The center said that, historically, that function has resulted in the commission being less critical of the chief and HPD.
“The Commission that selects the Police Chief has a strong interest in protecting the success of the selected person. But that interest is counterproductive to the Commission’s primary mission as community oversight of HPD. Removing the Commission from the hiring process allows it to focus on oversight and accountability,” the law center said in its proposal.
While some police oversight commissions across the U.S. have been given more powers to improve their ability to keep police departments in check, the law center said its proposed “reorganization” of the commission would do the same.
Although the change would take away one of the commission’s most consequential authorities over HPD, the proposal suggests changes to strengthen its authority in other ways, such as by removing language in the city charter that says the commission cannot “interfere” with HPD’s administrative affairs.
The proposal would give the police commission more ability to investigate and remedy issues brought up by the public. Those investigations, along with the commission’s annual performance review of the police chief, would be available to the public under the proposed charter amendment.
The law center would also try to address concerns that letting the mayor choose the chief leads to politicization of the position. The proposal would keep the chief’s five-year term limit, and would only allow the mayor to fire the chief with the police commission’s approval.
The proposal would also revoke the mayor’s authority to choose the members of the police commission and give that power instead to the Honolulu City Council. Currently, the mayor nominates the commissioners, who are then approved by the city council.
The seven-member commission would also be expanded to nine members to represent each of the city council districts.
In all, the law center said the changes would allow the police commission to provide “independent community-based oversight of the Honolulu Police Department.”
If the charter commission approves the proposed amendment, Oʻahu voters would have the opportunity to support or reject it during the 2026 election.
