Replacing paper overtime cards system with an online portal, a new fingerprint scanner and a fuel management system are among the Honolulu Police Department’s budget requests supported by police commissioners.

The City Charter authorizes the Honolulu Police Commission to review HPD’s proposed budget and offer comments to the mayor, commissioner Doug Chin told the Honolulu Star-­Advertiser. “This is the third year in a row that the commission has formed a permitted interaction group in order to make formal, written recommendations,” Chin said in a written statement. This year the three-member group is focusing on overtime, allocation of resources, recruitment and retention, and data collection and reporting.

Group members Jerry Gibson, who serves as the commission’s vice chair, Kenneth Silva and Chin will brief the full commission at a meeting slated for 2 p.m. today at HPD’s Alapai station, 801 S. Beretania St.

The overtime portal system is a pilot project intended to replace the current paper-based system, which was highlighted in a city auditor report released in May that detailed the department’s mismanagement of overtime from 2016 to 2020. The audit was ordered by the City Council after HPD overtime payments ballooned to $38 million in 2019.

The portal pilot program is used to digitally manage HPD’s overtime submission process. The permitted interaction group noted in its review that HPD “acknowledges that the current overtime submission system is antiquated and in need of an update” and that the department plans to use the online portal “department-wide” by July.

The recent attention to overtime management has resulted in new efficiencies, according to the commission and department. In the first quarter of the current fiscal year, the overtime allotment was $5.8 million, and the department spent $5.76 million.

Also, with gas prices in Hawaii exceeding $5 a gallon, the cost of fueling the department’s fleet is quickly increasing. The commission supports the HPD’s request to buy a $563,500 stand-alone fueling system that is separate from the shared city system.

The current fuel management system, which is shared by all city agencies, is “nearing the end of its operational life and due for replacement,” according to the commission’s review report. It continued, “According to the department, because the system is so old and is prone to technical ‘glitches,’ there have been times when adding new vehicles to the department’s fleet has been difficult.”

Most of the projected cost tied to the fuel management system request is for labor to install the new sensor units into all HPD-owned vehicles. The sensor units track fuel use and mileage and can indicate whether vehicle work orders are necessary. The new system’s inventory capabilities would allow police to “more efficiently track department fleet vehicles for deployment into service, which, in turn, promotes public safety.”

Additionally, the commission supports HPD’s request for updated fingerprint scanners in part for the processing of concealed-carry weapon licenses. The District 8 Police Station in Waianae does not have a LiveScan machine that scans fingerprints into the department’s system. Consequently, anyone arrested is sent to the Kapolei Police Station for processing. The findings of the interaction group urge the city administration and Council to approve $5,000 to update the fingerprint system.