Honolulu Police Commission

The commission first started fielding charter amendment proposals from the public in August, and received nearly 300 submissions. That was narrowed down to 19 coming into a scheduled meeting on Monday.

The Honolulu Police Commission announced its selection after deliberations and public testimony over three finalists.

Work to choose Honolulu’s new police chief is now underway and is expected to be done in June.

Next year Oʻahu voters could be asked if the city’s mayor should be given the ability to hire and fire the chief of the Honolulu Police Department, which is currently something only the commission can do.

The Honolulu City Council is moving along a resolution that would require the commission’s vetting process to include obtaining and reviewing references from candidates’ peers, supervisors and subordinates, and completing background checks and performance evaluations.

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. HPR's Mark Ladao has more.

The recent leadership changes at the Honolulu Police Department have prompted a question: Who should be able to hire and fire Oʻahu's police chief? HPR’s Mark Ladao looks at who has that authority, how it can change, and what that change could mean.

Mayor Rick Blangiardi would support a charter amendment giving whoever is the Honolulu mayor the ability to hire and fire the city’s chief of police. He also appears open to changing how the chiefs of the city’s fire and ocean safety departments are picked.

Court records show the subject of an islandwide manhunt New Year’s Day in Hawaiʻi was a felon barred from owning the high-powered rifle he used to open fire on Honolulu police in a shootout that left two officers wounded and the suspect dead. Sidney Tafokitau was accused of shooting a woman and carjacking another woman at gunpoint before leading officers on a chase around Oʻahu.

Police officers are eligible for taxpayer-funded representation if they are performing their job duties to benefit the public, but the court said that former Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha was not acting in any way to perform his duties.