The Honolulu Police Department has published its five-year strategic plan under new Chief David Lazar's tenure, and it revolves around improvements to officers' wellbeing, public trust and technology — all issues he's been focused on already during his first few months leading the department.
The plan, distributed to the Honolulu Police Commission, outlines dozens of "measurable outcomes" with deadlines, and could lead to some big changes.
"Our goal is clear: to modernize the Honolulu Police Department while strengthening the trust and partnership that are fundamental to effective policing," Lazar said in the plan.
It calls for base pay increases for officers and professional staff, along with expanded retirement, including expanded coverage for spouses. Daily benefits like childcare, free or reduced parking and affordable housing programs are also part of HPD's goals.
Maternity leave could also undergo changes. The plan says that, currently, "maternity leave is currently coming out of vacation and sick banks and newer officers don’t have much time accumulated during the early times of their careers when they want to and can have children."
Expanded work options could be coming for staff to help with work-life balance and burnout issues.
That includes offering four-day and the standard five-day work weeks to employees by the end of 2027, and reviewing and rebalancing the work distribution at HPD.
Lazar recently announced that HPD will reassign 100 officers to patrol duty, in part to reduce burnout for officers currently on patrol.
Department staff could also see improvements through the implementation of work development and education programs, along with "clear, equitable, and career-relevant pathways" for promotions. That will include minimum patrol time requirements for promotions to corporal, sergeant and detective ranks.
Promotions will be standardized for each rank, according to the plan.
Similarly, officer disciplinary measures will also be standardized so that it's applied "consistently" to all staff. HPD will create a "disciplinary matrix" and a "performance improvement process" that applies to every rank.
The plan would aim to address underperforming personnel, and could possibly create a division for internal investigations. The department's plan is to close 90% of its internal complaint investigations by June 2030.
The department aims to get 90% of its uniformed positions filled by June 2030. It's currently at around 80%, with over 450 vacancies.
It wants to reduce its application-to-academy timeline to 90 days and revamp its recruiting efforts, as well as expanding its academy.
It also wants to expand its target population, in part by offering benefits like housing assistance, and transition support for neighbor island and out-of-state officers. It wants to increase off-island applications by 15% by June 2029.
It will evaluate its 25-year retention bonus and retirement benefits to reduce attrition, as well as revamp its Reserve Officer Program to to assist with the officer shortage.
The plan will also follow through with Lazar's goal to modernize HPD. It plans to expand the Drone as First Responder initiative and its use of controversial automated license plate reader cameras. The department will also embrace AI for case reviews and investigations, although with human verification.
HPD will also evaluate a platform called Mark 43, which public safety agencies use to implement those technologies and improve police operations.
The Honolulu Police Commission will discuss the plan during its next meeting.
