HONOLULU — The Honolulu Police Department posted 111-page-long “2024 Commander Performance Survey Results” online Friday that detail optimism and frustration about morale, equipment and operations under the leadership of Chief Arthur “Joe” Logan.
The survey was commissioned in March and was live for about a month before the deadline to respond passed in April. About 370 officers of all ranks and almost 100 civilian employees took the 15-question survey, a rate of 22%, or 1 in 5, HPD employees.
More than half of respondents lauded senior leadership for professionalism, working well together and effective management.
The most common complaints were about staffing, outdated equipment and computer programs, and a lack of communication about operational goals, initiatives and standards.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser posted the survey and respondents’ comments in their entirety on its website.
In an interview with the Star-Advertiser, Logan said the survey is helping him and his team figure out what they are doing well and “what our weaknesses are and what we need to work on.”
“The majors, working with their assistant chiefs, went over the comments that were pertinent to their command or district, unit or element. Based off of that, there were conversations with the ACs (assistant chiefs) and majors and captains,” Logan said. “(Majors will) work with assistant chiefs on a game plan to better respond to weaknesses and how do they improve themselves as leaders or the organization they are in charge of.”
In an online message authored by Logan, the department’s 12th chief said he “asked the staff to conduct an internal survey to gauge what employees thought of the administration and command staff’s management of the department.”
In the comments shared by responders, the names of every officer, save for Logan, are redacted.
“The majority of the respondents indicated that our commanders are motivated, professional, and work well together,” wrote Logan. “These are areas that I intend to sustain and build upon not just for the leadership but throughout the department. Some respondents indicated that they felt that commanders could do better at communication, morale, and accountability — all areas that have an impact on our retention and hiring — so I pledge to focus our efforts and do better.”
The survey results showed that 56% of the respondents “agreed or strongly agreed that the senior leadership is effective at managing the department,” while 44% “disagreed or strongly disagreed.”
“This will serve as our baseline,” Logan said. “I have asked the bureau chiefs to meet with their individual commanders to identify what is working well and what areas need improvement.”
Some changes already have been implemented, Logan wrote, but he did not disclose what changes have been made.
“To ensure that these efforts are not in vain, I will continue using surveys and making personal visits to all elements with the goal of improving communication and morale,” said Logan, who said that surveys may be commissioned every year or every two years. “The results are important to furthering my understanding of the issues and concerns of our employees throughout the department. Most of the comments were civil and professional. A small number were personal attacks that were inappropriate and not conducive to improving the department.”
Logan committed to spending more time in the field with employees and noted that his video logs, while effective, are “not a substitute for face-to-face conversation.”
“I know that building trust takes time, and I hope that the survey is the first step toward building an even better department,” wrote Logan.
The comments from responding HPD employees spanned the gamut of strong support to dissatisfaction with the work of mid- and upper-level management.
In response to the fourth prompt, which stated, “Your commanders (i.e., Major, Captain, Director, Superintendent, etc.) equip you with the necessary tools to succeed,” one responded indicated that their “Major is always trying to improve the working conditions and staffing.”
A solo bike officer complained that his unit is using motorcycles that are 6 to 10 years old and have more than 40,000 miles on them.
One officer wrote that his major meets every request for new equipment by asking why the officer needs it.
“Sometimes the job just gets more complicated. The status quo of the past will begin to get you less and less. New tools may be only enough to keep up as we drown in work,” wrote the officer.
Another HPD employee shared that “his supervisor could “improve on more effective training for all divisions. Need improved and more up to date 2024 tech computer programs for Excel and Word. Our current programs are outdated and slow.”
A satisfied HPD officer shared that their major “strongly encourages professional continuing education; supports training and 2024 funding for required travel for all finance personnel to keep current with evolving rules, regulations, audit standards in financial management, and various certifications in accounting, budgets, payroll, and grants management. Strongly supports internal personnel promotions, as well as bringing in new employees and perspectives to keep the division fresh and on the leading edge in this field.”
Others are less bullish on the current state of affairs at HPD, claiming that overtime and special-project hours have been cut, affecting “the amount of crime happening in 2024 specific areas.”
“Decreasing the amount of Officers on patrol at any given time, increases the risk of Officer injury while dealing with violent incidents,” wrote the responder.
The equipment officers use is “is substandard and outdated. Very glitchy.”
“The program we use to take calls and dispatch officers to calls for service is at best sadly inefficient and at worse a severe danger to our officers and the public safety,” wrote a respondent.
Logan said global supply chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic had police departments across the country experiencing delays in acquiring new vehicles and equipment.
New equipment is slowly coming in now, and HPD is working to secure it and prepare it for field for use by officers.
Logan’s note to readers of the survey results ended with a series of disclaimers including that all “comments alleging possible misconduct or impropriety were reviewed and investigated where possible. Some comments lacked specific information which makes it difficult to investigate,” read the final disclaimer. “To address those situations, we have encouraged HPD personnel to contact PSO (Professional Standards Office) with additional information.”
Results released after chief’s evaluation
HPD posted the survey results on the department’s website Friday, two days after the Honolulu Police Commission shared Logan’s second annual evaluation with the public during its meeting.
The release of the survey does not change the commission’s evaluation of Logan, Chair Doug Chin told the Star-Advertiser. During the evaluation process, the entire commission was briefed in executive session on the survey’s preliminary results.
Several individual commissioners went through the survey and comments, and reported what they reviewed to the rest of the members as they wrote up Logan’s evaluation.
“The survey — along with the individual commissioners’ own impressions of the Chief and their own first hand interviews with dozens of stakeholders, employees, and persons outside the Department — all together helped form the basis for this year’s evaluation,” Chin said.
Commissioners credited Logan’s leadership for commissioning an internal survey and for transparently publishing the results and responses.
“We understand Chief Logan and his leadership team’s intention is to investigate anonymous complaints that are credible and constructive, to provide input to the middle-level commanders, and to make a better effort to directly interact with all levels of the 2,000 employees-strong Department,” Chin said. “At last week’s meeting, the Commission formed a permitted interaction group to update next year’s evaluation criteria for the Chief in response to what it learned from this year. That includes what it learned from this survey. The Commission supports Chief Logan’s plan to continue these surveys and to use them to further strengthen the organization.”
The State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers told the Star-Advertiser that the survey has “a very limited scope, focusing on middle management and the results are now over six months old.”
“What we do see in the comment sections is a deep concern about the need for dramatic improvement in communication, specifically from the top of the organization down to the rank-and-file officers,” said Jonathan Frye, SHOPO Honolulu Chapter chair. “Our members are professionals, who take pride in their work. They have a lot of insight to offer the Department on what needs to be fixed and on how to improve the service we provide to our community. They deserve to be engaged directly. We hope leadership immediately focuses on this issue and addresses it in a meaningful way.”
