When photojournalist Dale Stockton planned a trip to Kaua‘i and Maui to celebrate his 50th birthday on his two favorite Hawaiian islands earlier this year, he hadn’t intended on doing any writing. But after arriving on the Garden Island, the
When photojournalist Dale Stockton planned a trip to Kaua‘i and Maui to celebrate his 50th birthday on his two favorite Hawaiian islands earlier this year, he hadn’t intended on doing any writing.
But after arriving on the Garden Island, the editor of the San Diego-based Law Officer magazine felt inspired to pen a story on the Kaua‘i Police Department.
“Policing on an island is very different from departments in other areas,” said Stockton in a KPD press release. “KPD must be self-sufficient because they can’t call on other agencies for immediate help. It’s a unique situation.”
A full-time police officer for 30 years, Stockton is well aware of what police officers experience on the job.
Dedicating nearly six pages to KPD in the June issue of Law Officer, Stockton presents a comprehensive overview of the department, starting with the challenges encountered by police officers on the island, the release states. Then he describes the facilities maintained by KPD and what is handled at each station. In the same section, Stockton discusses the make-up of the department, which currently has a staff of 136 officers and 48 support positions.
Moving to equipment issued to police officers, Stockton talks about various types of weapons approved for officers to carry, uniforms, body armor and KPD’s take-home car program.
“The take-home car program provides much greater island coverage in the event of a major incident than the department would achieve without the program,” Stockton said.
According to KPD, Kaua‘i and Maui are the only islands with such a program.
In subsequent sections, Stockton covers assignments and the role of the tactical team, while his final paragraph examines the unique challenges KPD faces with recruiting.
Stockton said that many long-term residents on an island are reluctant to participate in law enforcement because most have strong family and community connections. Furthermore, the usual police testing and screening procedures mean Mainland applicants have to take multiple trips to the island, and the expense of this process dissuades many. Finally, all four Hawai‘i counties operate under the same state-negotiated contract so officers on all islands receive the same pay and benefits. This tends to keep salaries lower than many West Coast areas, the region that would normally provide lateral officer interest, the release states.
