Recruitment continues to be a challenge for the Honolulu Police Department.
Police Chief Louis Kealoha told the City Council Budget Committee last week that out of 2,143 officer positions, HPD had 198 vacancies but hopes to fill 89 of those with recruits now in training.
About 279 active officers are eligible for retirement, Kealoha said. If a large number of those officers choose to retire, "the plan is … we have to take (officers) from our education and prevention programs and put them back out on the street," he said.
The goal is to graduate 45 people per class three to four times a year. For the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, 49 recruits have graduated and another 16 are completing training, Kealoha said. There were 73 graduates in 2011.
"Nationwide, recruitment is a challenge," Kealoha said Wednesday. "The job is dangerous," and prospective recruits, especially college graduates, are seeking other types of jobs, he said.
Many applicants can’t pass a written exam or psychological testing, he said.
A recruitment drive and application period for metropolitan police officers ended March 1. Department spokeswoman Michelle Yu said nearly 2,500 people applied.
The city Department of Human Resources is screening applicants to see which qualify to take the recruit test in May, Yu said.
Maintaining police staffing levels has a "huge" effect on public safety, said Tenari Maafala, president of the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers.
"That’s 2,100 officers to service almost a million people on this island," Maafala said in an email to the Star-Advertiser. "It’s a huge public safety issue. If you don’t have officers out there, that’s less officers out there serving the public in the community. Without backup that leaves the officer alone until backup arrives."
Asked what the city should do to attract more qualified candidates, Maafala said, "It’s not a matter of attracting qualified candidates. It’s a matter of the city providing funding to fill the vacancies."
Operating budgets for all the city’s first-responder agencies are scheduled to be reduced in fiscal 2013, the year after they received budget bumps to provide security and other services for last November’s Asia Pacific Economic Cooperative gathering.
HPD unveiled last week a $223.8 million operating budget that is about 3.8 percent less than in the 2012 budget year.
On the capitol improvements side, HPD is seeking $5.65 million to build a new Waianae substation. The existing building is more than 50 years old and "is almost ready to be condemned," Kealoha said. A contract is expected to be awarded in April, and construction is slated to begin in August, Kealoha said.
Down the line, improvements will be needed at substations in Pearl City, Kailua and Kaneohe, the chief said.
The department is also seeking an additional $2 million in the coming year for a canine facility for the Specialized Services Division at the Waipahu training academy, roof improvements at the main Alapai station and unanticipated electrical, mechanical and plumbing improvements. Also requested is $530,000 for upgrades of security camera systems at various police stations.
The Honolulu Fire Department operating budget is proposed at $95.6 million, down 3.5 percent from this year’s $99.1 million.
The number of firefighter positions are slated to hold steady at 1,192.5, Chief Kenneth Silva said. A class of 51 firefighter recruits is scheduled to graduate May 1, while another class of up to 50 will begin training in April.
The department is seeking $650,000 for planning, design and construction of a relocated Hauula station. Two new stations are coming online this year — one in East Kapolei and a replacement for the existing Ewa Beach station at Ocean Pointe.
The East Kapolei station began operating from temporary quarters in January. The permanent station is to be completed in December.
The Ocean Pointe station is expected to open this summer.
Fire officials want an additional $2 million for station improvements across Oahu, including $500,000 for reconstruction of the apparatus room at the Waikiki station and $475,000 for interior renovations at the Moanalua station.
The budget for the city Emergency Services Department, which operates ambulance and lifeguard services, is down 2 percent from the current year. It is slated to drop to $33.9 million from $34.6 million. EMS operations are reimbursed to the city by the state.
The department has about 23 funded EMS vacancies and five ocean safety vacancies.
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Star-Advertiser reporter Leila Fujimori contributed to this report.
