At their regular meeting Wednesday, the Kaua’i Police Department and Commission discussed new developments in officer recruitment procedures, including taking advantage of a new law that last year changed requirements of where the KPD can “market” to recruits. The commission
At their regular meeting Wednesday, the Kaua’i Police Department and Commission discussed new developments in officer recruitment procedures, including taking advantage of a new law that last year changed requirements of where the KPD can “market” to recruits.
The commission and Police Chief George Freitas in executive session discussed the ongoing federal lawsuit filed against the county and Freitas by KPD officer Mark Begley.
The KPD rolled out a job advertisement on the International Association of Chiefs of Police Web site Monday, and by Wednesday afternoon the department had already received a reply from a person in Indiana. The job ad was placed for free at no cost to the county.
According to KPD Administrative Services Acting Assistant Chief Lt. Miles Tanabe and Deputy Chief Willy Ihu, they will begin to produce television and radio ads.
Entrance exams for applicants will be administered quarterly on island, with tests on O’ahu twice a year. The next test will be given in May. Tests could also be arranged in other states with proxies to reduce the number of times an applicant would have to fly out to Kaua’i.
Tanabe said students at Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School are volunteering to design recruitment posters. Students there have already designed a Web site for the entire County of Kaua’i, which should be unveiled this summer.
The 6.5-month police recruit training class at Kaua’i Community College will start up again this summer, with students who are already hired by the department and unpaid civilian students. This session will be the third since 2001.
Tanabe, who coordinates the classes, said the program saves money and is the only one in the state to be associated with the University of Hawai’i.
“We’ve got a chance to do something fantastic for this community-to turn out highly trained, educated people who can protect and serve the community the way they want to be treated, with fairness and respect,” Tanabe said.
For every student hired under Workforce Development Act, the Department of Labor will provide six months salary, saving about $17,800, Tanabe said.
Also, students hired upon completion of the class will save the department money. Officers’ base pay is about $33,000. For each vacancy, the department has to pay regular officers overtime to cover the shifts, costing about $47,000 a year, Tanabe said.
Students are able to enroll in classes at KCC for college credit while learning police procedures. The department is in ongoing discussions to offer an associate’s degree along with training, which would make it the second institution in the country after a school in Maryland to do so.
Later, Tanabe pointed out that in the 2001 class, 12 students entered and graduated the class. Eight were already hired by the department, two were hired at the end of training, and the remaining two were hired as Animal Control Officers by the Kauai Humane Society.
Of the 15 students who started the 2002 class, 10 graduated. Of those 10, four were hired by the department prior to training and one was hired after training was completed. The department may hire three more officers, based upon results of a psychiatric exam, background check and polygraph test.
