With home burglary and auto theft tallies on Oahu falling over the past four years, Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha says this year he will continue to focus on reducing home burglaries while stepping up efforts to improve customer service and domestic violence awareness in the department.
Kealoha presented his 2015 plan for the Honolulu Police Department to the Honolulu Police Commission last week.
His plan marks the beginning of his second five-year term after becoming chief in November 2009. The Honolulu Police Commission reappointed him to a second term in February 2014.
Kealoha said his new plan, which stretches to 2020, has 10 long-term goals, as did his previous five-year plan. While nine initial goals remain in the new plan, one has changed. A call for quicker adoption of technology was dropped for a goal of improving customer service.
He said HPD, which has a $252 million budget, will for the first time post his latest strategic plan on the department’s website so the public knows the department’s focus.
University of Hawaii professor Meda Chesney-Lind, former president of the Western Society of Criminology, did not see Kealoha’s presentation, but when told a summary of it, commended the department for trying to improve domestic violence awareness.
She said the department, however, failed to prioritize improving organization of its data.
"I think that’s a pretty big void in their current operations," Chesney-Lind said. "I’m disappointed that it wasn’t one of the priorities that he mentioned."
Of the country’s 25 largest city and county law enforcement agencies, HPD is the only one that has not reported crime statistics since 2012. The data submitted by law enforcement agencies are compiled by the FBI into the annual Uniform Crime Reporting program.
Deputy Chief Dave Kajihiro told the commission that while Honolulu has not been included in the UCR, the department does collect and submit data, just not in time to meet the deadline for the federal report.
He said the delay is due to an old software system, adding that the department expects system upgrades to be completed within about a year.
"As soon as that system is implemented, we will be online and up to date, immediately," he said. "It is something we want to participate in."
But if there are problems updating the software with the vendor, Motorola, then HPD will have to look for another vendor and do testing, which could take another two to three years, he said, adding that the department will have a better handle on the timeline details within a few months.
Kealoha told the commission that HPD employees are reviewing data manually to make sure they are in compliance with the UCR, but the upgraded system will be automated.
Meanwhile, the department is contending with backlash tied to its handling of domestic violence cases after an off-duty officer was captured on video appearing to repeatedly punch a woman.
HPD has pursued an investigation of the officers who responded to the scene and did not file a report, but a grand jury declined to indict the officer in the video.
Domestic violence advocates said dozens of complaints have been made about how officers handle domestic violence cases, and city and state lawmakers have introduced several bills to address the issue.
Kealoha, in his presentation to the commission, said the department will work with community partners to improve family and domestic violence awareness.
"What’s really important here is that we develop relationships with all the stakeholders who can help us on all this," he said.
In addition to prioritizing domestic violence awareness, Kealoha said the department will also aim to improve burglary investigations and customer service, with officers contacting burglary victims by phone or in person in at least 98 percent of cases.
"Currently, what we do now is we mail them a letter, and they never hear from the detective and that’s not good," Kealoha said. "We want to make sure our detectives at least speak with these victims."
Kealoha said detectives will also gather intelligence about property crimes from suspects in drug offenses because the two types of crimes are often related. And the department will improve partnerships between detectives, undercover officers and patrol officers, he said.
"Instead of working in silos, we want them to work and cooperate with each other," he said.
Another area of focus the chief touched on is making residents feel safer in Chinatown. Kealoha said the department will accomplish that by bringing back foot patrols in that district and by logging chronic complaints, identifying patterns and addressing core causes of problems.
Kealoha also said he wants to reduce complaints about officers by 50 percent — from 2 complaints per 10,000 police interactions to 1; and to reduce average response times to calls by 9 seconds — to 7 minutes and 10 seconds, from 7 minutes and 19 seconds.
Kajihiro, who later spoke with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser about the chief’s plan, said Kealoha has always focused on burglaries since becoming chief because, of all property crimes, home burglaries leave victims feeling the most violated.
He said the department is focusing on the downtown and Chinatown areas because the city’s 2013 Service Efforts and Accomplishments Report found only 71 percent of Honolulu residents felt safe downtown during the day, compared with 91 percent of residents who felt safe in other neighborhoods during the day.
Finally, Kajihiro said, an improvement in response time is substantial because the department is already efficient in that respect.
"Seconds can make a difference," he said.
