LIHU‘E — There is good news for the Garden Island in this time of economic crisis. The Kaua‘i Police Department is increasing its work force by nearly 20 percent, Chief Darryl Perry told the County Council during the department’s budget
LIHU‘E — There is good news for the Garden Island in this time of economic crisis. The Kaua‘i Police Department is increasing its work force by nearly 20 percent, Chief Darryl Perry told the County Council during the department’s budget review meeting Thursday morning.
Perry said KPD has 13 new recruits already in training, and 16 vacancies are still open. The number of KPD officers authorized for the new fiscal year is 148, including the 29 new hires.
“We feel very confident that by the end of the year we’ll be filling those vacancies,” Perry said.
There are about 75 applicants interested in the positions, according to Deputy Chief Mark Begley, the majority of whom are from Kaua‘i; only seven are from out of state.
Some of the openings at KPD come from higher-ranked administrative positions. Perry said that once the new recruits finish training, KPD will promote from within.
“We can’t do it right now, otherwise there will be pukas on the bottom,” Perry said. The 13 recruits are scheduled to graduate July 31.
The department is also looking to fill two Public Safety Worker positions. Of 10 employees budgeted for the division, four are already hired, and four more are expected to begin working April 21.
Perry and Begley explained to council members the mayor’s proposed budget for KPD, which takes more than 15 percent of the county’s $154 million budget, or $24.4 million.
The new budget represents an increase of 19.4 percent from the 2008-09 budget of 20.4 million, but much of that is due to the new accounting practice in effect for the coming year that moved “other post employment benefits” from the Finance Department to other departments based on their employees’ benefits.
KPD has been able to obtain some grants to offset increases and also cut some operational costs.
Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, also known as “the stimulus,” KPD secured over $1 million to fund four new positions at the Community Oriented Police Services for the next three years. Also through the act, KPD secured nearly $200,000 to be used in conjunction with the prosecutor’s office.
Despite the good news, the slash in budgeting for training left Council Chair Kaipo Asing concerned. Perry assured Asing that even though all training is important, some can be eliminated because it will not be needed immediately. Training considered essential would not be cut, such as CPR certification and weapons.
Energy costs also concerned Perry.
“We take that very seriously,” he said, adding that his staff even went to the length of turning off unnecessary lights. “We are trying to do our best to cut our finances. But the bottom line is, the community is still safe, we’re still out there doing our job.”
