By the end of this year, Kaua‘i Police Department Lt. Miles Tanabe hopes to live up to his commitment to Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste and have KPD’s vacancy rate under 5 percent.
That would mean that by year’s end there would be fewer than four vacant positions in KPD. There are currently 13 vacancies (11 sworn positions funded by the county, and two grant-funded positions), which from a sworn officer force of 145 means a vacancy rate of around 9 percent.
Tanabe, KPD training officer, said 5 percent is an average vacancy rate for other police departments in the state. The KPD vacancy rate has been as high as 17 percent, he said.
The large number of vacancies has meant KPD leaders have had to halt all officer promotions, as promotions would leave vacancies in the promoted officers’ former positions on or closer to street level, where coverage is critical, he said.
The large number of vacancies has also led to the expenditure of lots of overtime money to keep officers on the streets, he said.
“It’s kind of like a balancing act,” said Tanabe, who is hopeful most of the vacant positions can be filled by the end of this year.
At that time, officer promotions could resume, he said.
With two new officers sworn in yesterday, Monday, April 19, another nine recruits in classroom training now, and another set of potential recruits going through background checks after taking written tests Saturday, April 17, Tanabe is confident he’ll be able to fill enough vacancies to get KPD’s vacancy rate under 5 percent, as he has committed to Baptiste.
The nine recruits will be in training for the next five months, he said.
In the meantime, KPD’s overtime budget remains stressed. “Overtime has naturally increased because of the vacancies,” Tanabe said.
The department’s budget for overtime generally is expended by February, or eight months into the 12-month fiscal year, he explained.
Once the overtime budget is expended, money to pay officers working overtime (typical overtime pay is time and a half, or 1.5 times an officer’s hourly wage) is taken from unexpended balances from the funded but vacant positions, he said.
Associate Editor Paul C. Curtis may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net.
