Search for next Honolulu police chief to begin

A nationwide search will begin to find the 12th chief of the Honolulu Police Department when the Honolulu Police Commission is scheduled to meet Monday and discuss retaining a recruitment firm to hire HPD’s second boss in four years.

The commission is scheduled to hold a special meeting at 2 p.m. Monday to begin the process to start a request for proposals from search firms that will help identify candidates to replace Chief Susan Ballard. She announced her retirement in a video on Friday, two days after receiving her annual performance review.

Police Commission Chairwoman Shannon L. Alivado told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that a search firm will guide commissioners who do not have any experience conducting a search and selecting a new police chief.

“I find it an honor to work with Chief Ballard,” Alivado said. “She has been nothing but open and transparent. We came across a difficult year in 2020, and it was a difficult evaluation but we saw some areas for improvement. I feel bad that we won’t have the opportunity to work with her.”

During Monday’s meeting the city Corporation Counsel and Police Commission staff are expected to brief commissioners about the procurement process and the next steps.

Honolulu City Council Chairman Tommy Waters told the Star-Advertiser he believes the public and the Council are looking for leaders with good management practices who are committed to rebuilding community trust. The new chief must promote financial and operational accountability following a series of questionable federal CARES Act expenditures and overtime use, Waters said.

The city charter would need to be amended to allow the City Council and the mayor a specific role in the selection process, a move Waters would be open to if it had the community’s support.

But Waters wants the next chief “to demonstrate a profound understanding of the cultural sensitivities that make our island home unique.”

Last month Kauai Police Chief Todd Raybuck — who came out of retirement from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department — apologized for making racially offensive comments and mocking Asian Americans.

”Given some of the current concerns with the Kauai Police Department’s chief, it may serve as a cautionary tale for why we may not want to select someone that does not understand Hawaii or the aloha that we demonstrate for one another,” Waters said.

Waters thanked Ballard for her nearly four decades of service to the city.

“While we have not always agreed on everything, Chief Ballard demonstrated a level of candidness in discussing with the Council the challenges facing the Honolulu Police Department, and I sincerely hope that the next chief can identify problems and relay them to the Council in a similar fashion,” he said.

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi told the Star- Advertiser he respects that the responsibility to select a new chief belongs to the Police Commission, and he supports that process. Ballard opted to retire on his watch, and Blangiardi believes the city’s chief executive should participate.

“I have a lot of experience hiring and firing people. I don’t want to interfere; I just want to help recruit the best possible candidate,” Blangiardi said. “This is a critical hire. I would want to cast as wide a net as possible, but my preference is to hire from within (the department).”

The State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers, the police union, does not yet have a list of preferred candidates. SHOPO President Malcolm Lutu praised Ballard’s tenure as chief and said the officers union will keep moving forward on labor issues and other officer specific policies advanced under Ballard’s watch.

“Her tenure is something that probably no other chief had to go through,” Lutu said, “to handle two officers losing their lives, a pandemic and a climate that has changed for police officers. This is a profession no one wants to do anymore. Recruitment is hard, nationwide. I give her credit for doing what she is doing. This job has changed.”