The men and women of the Honolulu Police Department dedicate hundreds of thousands of hours each year to ensuring the safety of our community, out on the street every single day serving the people of Oahu. Each one of us has made a personal commitment — one that comes with sacrifice and personal risk — because we believe sincerely that it is our duty to protect and to serve.

As representatives of the law, we must hold ourselves to the highest standards of conduct and ethics. There have been officers amongst our ranks who have made mistakes and shown serious lapses in judgment. We recognize that there is more we must do to continue improving the department and concrete action is taking place to make a difference right away.

>> The Employee Early Recognition System has been in regular use for over a decade and has been very effective in helping supervisors identify and address behavior that could become detrimental to the employee or department. Types of intervention include counseling, therapy, training, reassignment and fitness-for-duty examination.

>> On Aug. 9, the HPD launched an additional pilot training initiative called STRIPES II — Supervisory Training Regiment In Preparation and Education of Sergeants — for first-line supervisors. The program will provide supervisory tools and resources beyond the benchmarks observed within the Employee Early Recognition Program. The goal of STRIPES II is to enhance supervisors’ ability to effectively supervise their employees and intervene to prevent misconduct from occurring at the ground level.

>> We have increased the number and frequency of unannounced inspections from 412 inspections in 2011 to 508 inspections in 2015. These reviews and checks are conducted on police personnel at different work locations, including police stations, courts, and special duty sites. The purpose of the inspections is to hold our officers more accountable for maintaining the highest standards of conduct and professionalism at all times.

>> We have rewritten our policy for officer protocol with regard to domestic violence to add more structure and accountability to our procedures while bringing our standards up to the level of best practices for law enforcement. Our fully revised policy can be viewed in its entirety, alongside all department policies, at www.http://honolulupd.org/information.

Among the details included in this revised policy, HPD requires that a supervisor respond to all reports of officer-involved domestic violence and family arguments. Also, any officer arrested for a domestic violence offense has his or her department-issued firearms, ammunition, badge and other equipment taken away and is immediately placed on Restriction of Police Authority (ROPA) until both criminal and administrative investigations have been resolved.

>> HPD has partnered with the Domestic Violence Action Center (DVAC) to pilot a new program, Safe on Scene, designed to ensure that all victims of domestic violence have an advocate present to immediately offer support and assistance at the scene of the incident. When a domestic violence 911 call comes in, a two-person team of DVAC-trained advocates will respond immediately to the scene alongside HPD officers.

>> This summer, HPD adopted the Maryland Model’s Lethality Assessment Program, a tool to help HPD predict future risk to current victims of domestic violence so that we are able to help proactively prevent dangerous situations from occurring, in partnership with emergency assistance services for domestic violence victims.

We encourage community members to let us know when we have opportunities to improve. Under our current system, you can download all public forms online, including those necessary to file a complaint against an officer for misconduct. Free notary service is available 24 hours per day at all police stations for individuals submitting a complaint. Individuals may also use an outside notary and mail in the forms at their convenience.

We recognize that we have a tremendous responsibility to our community, and we understand what a privilege it is to protect and serve the people of Honolulu. We acknowledge that we can, and must, continue to ensure that each and every officer is a proud representation of the integrity and commitment of the HPD. Together, our officers will continue to work hard, every day, striving to improve our department and maintain Honolulu’s place as one of the safest major cities in the nation.

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ON VACATION:

“On Politics” columnist Richard Borreca is off today.

Cary Okimoto is deputy chief of the Honolulu Police Department.