Honolulu Police Department recruiting for officers

The Honolulu Police Department is looking for more recruits to join the force.

HPD is accepting applications online (joinhonolulu pd.org) through Thursday.

The latest recruitment drive comes as the agency is dealing with controversy.

Police Chief Louis Kealoha and four other officers recently received letters from federal authorities informing them they were targets of a federal grand jury investigation into allegations of corruption.

HPD, which has more than 2,000 officers, has 174 vacancies within the force, according to the department. It begins training sessions for new recruits in April, August and December of each year.

Applicants must be at least 20 and have a high school diploma or GED.

Pay for a police recruit is $60,504 per year, while a new officer’s salary starts at nearly $63,000, according to HPD’s website.

Some of the agency’s turnover relates to retirements. So far this year about 75 officers have retired or are planning to do so, according to HPD.