So the Honolulu Police Department is hiring a public relations/marketing strategy firm to help them remake HPD’s image.

The first public relations problem Bennet Group can address is how it looks when a police department hires a public relations firm.

Just about everyone can tell a story about the time HPD really came through for them in a personal way to keep them safe or diffuse a problem or help get back stolen stuff. Just about everyone can also tell a story about the time HPD ticked them off because the dispatcher was dismissive on the phone or it took seemingly forever for patrol officers to arrive at the scene or, when they got there, it was clear they weren’t really feeling like breaking a sweat to save the day.

Then there’s the parade of misbehaving officers, beating girlfriends, beating suspects, shooting guns in bars. Most recently we’ve got one charged with selling a stolen SUV. And the tangled family drama with the chief and his wife and her uncle and the mailbox that just doesn’t seem to end. Family squabble gone crazy or criminal wrongdoing? No one’s talking, so we’re left to guess and hope for the best.

There’s no re-branding that kind of action.

Part of what a public relations firm does is charge clients a lot of money to get “free” media exposure. That means the firm gets paid to pitch stories to journalists. I think I speak for most journalists when I say that we’d love it if HPD just returned our calls with no middleman vetting the message. We’d love it if once in a while we’d get a call from a captain or whoever who says, “Hey, this cool thing happened out on our watch. Maybe it’s a story for you.” Go ahead and pitch us the good news. We’ll consider it. Answer our questions when we’re representing the public’s right to know. That’s how our society is supposed to work. Don’t sugarcoat things. Don’t hide or avoid. Do good work and we’ll write about it. Be a hero, save the day, be consistent and beyond reproach and you’ll get great word of mouth in the community. People will talk and they’ll say nice things. You don’t need to spend $125,000 a year to learn how to do that. Let your brand be built by what you do. Didn’t we all hear that lecture at some point in our lives?

More important, how does a PR firm help with the Police Department’s interactions with people beyond McGruff the Crime Dog kindergarten visits and D.A.R.E. Days? How does it help them catch bad guys and protect good guys or have enough officers on a shift to make sure every call is covered? Is that the best use of that money to help the police do their jobs to keep our community safe?

Everyone knows the folly of hiring a handyman to repaint the facade when what you really need to do is rebuild the foundation.

Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@taradvertiser.com.