Honolulu Police Department

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.

In the bill, HPD would need to provide access to its dispatch radio communications to local media outlets. The department encrypted its scanners in 2022, denying access to the public and media.

The Honolulu City Council has been looking to reallocate money in the city’s budget to fund other projects, namely required sewer infrastructure upgrades on Oʻahu, and about $12.4 million could come from funds otherwise meant to hire for Honolulu Police Department jobs that are chronically vacant.

Honolulu Police Chief Joe Logan announced his retirement and will step down at the end of the month.

A new class-action lawsuit alleges that the Honolulu Police Department has had a “longstanding pattern” of arresting people for driving under the influence without probable cause and due process. The plaintiffs want HPD’s practices to be deemed unconstitutional. The lawsuit does not seek monetary damages.

HPR's Mark Ladao reports on the Honolulu Police Department's findings that more people are applying to become officers due to changes in its recruitment strategy.

The City and County of Honolulu is still actively recruiting displaced federal employees and professionals from non-governmental organizations impacted by federal funding cuts. This is in response to Gov. Josh Green's executive order on Feb. 18 that aims to tap into the pool of laid-off federal workers and fill over 4,000 open positions in state government.

Officer Austin Ewaliko, a five-year veteran of HPD, allegedly used the department's internal system to research the case and then provided confidential information to suspects.

The Honolulu Police Department and Prosecuting Attorney say they’ve started investigating a dozen online sexual abuse cases over the last four months. Some teens have been convinced to send offenders explicit photos and videos of themselves.

Police say a sixth person has died as a result of a massive explosion of illegal fireworks over New Year’s in Honolulu. A 30-year-old woman died at a local hospital at about 5:59 a.m. Wednesday, the Honolulu Police Department said in a statement.