LIHU’E — With a shortage of 18 officers, the Kaua’i Police Department has stepped up its recruitment to bring more men and women onto the force. The department has begun taking job applications throughout the year, and will recruit people
LIHU’E — With a shortage of 18 officers, the Kaua’i Police Department has stepped up its recruitment to bring more men and women onto the force.
The department has begun taking job applications throughout the year, and will recruit people during job fairs held at high schools, colleges and military bases on Kaua’i and elsewhere in the state.
Manpower shortages affect every police department in the nation, and Kaua’i county is no different, said Kaua’i Police Chief George Freitas.
Because of the manpower shortage, officers have had to continuously work overtime, a situation they say could lead to “job burnout” and reduce their efficiency.
“The shortage has caused a severe amount of fatigue, due to overwork,” said Lt. Miles Tanabe, the department’s training officer. “They are getting their days off canceled on a regular basis.” If the shortage becomes critical, the Kaua’i police might not respond to minor calls, as some police departments have decided to do, Freitas said.
The manpower shortage facing the Kaua’i Police Department stems from officers who have retired and who have not been replaced.
The shortage also stems from officers who have left the department for higher-paying jobs with state agencies or with Mainland law enforcement agencies.
The Kaua’i Police Department would be closer to full strength at 147 officers, Tanabe said. Currently, there are 129 uniformed officers.
Recruitment was not as severe a problem in the past.
When the department launched recruitment drives between 100 to 250 people filled out job applications, Tanabe said. Now only between 40 and 70 apply for jobs.
Why the downturn?
Tanabe said it might because the state agencies, the Honolulu Police Department and Mainland law enforcement agencies are doing a better job of recruiting than the Kaua’i police.
Some Kauaians might opt for a job with HPD because they think a life on ‘Oahu might be more exciting, he added.
But they won’t be making any more than their counterparts who become Kaua’i police officers.
Statewide, the starting base pay for a new officer is $2,548 a month. After a year’s service, that jumps to $2,751, and as with the entry level pay, doesn’t include holiday and night-shift differential pay and overtime, Tanabe said.
The number of KPD applicants also might be down because people might be opting for better-paying jobs in the private sector.
“Police work is still appealing, I think,” Tanabe said. “But when you have all these factors, you are going to see what is happening now.” Those who want to become officers with the Kaua’i police are run through a battery of tests. After they fill out a job application, they are run through a written test, a physical agility test, an extensive background check, a psychological test, a polygraph test, a drug test and a final physical examination – a process that takes six to nine months.
After candidates pass the final physical examination, they are offered a job, and if they take it, they become a recruit or police service officer.
Then they go through 22 weeks of training and another18 weeks of field training.
After a year of successful employment, they pass probation and are promoted to the status of police officer.
Many police candidates don’t get that far, Tanabe said.
“The biggest stumbling block is the written exam,” he said.
“Fifty to 80 percent of the applicants drop out of the running.” The most qualified candidates emerge from the testing. In the last three years, police academy classes have averaged five graduates, a small number when compared to larger classes of the 1980s and early 1990s, Tanabe said.
With smaller classes graduating, suggestions have been raised to lower the testing standards, a proposal that has been rejected by Freitas and his staff.
“To reduce the standards would be to perhaps resolve short-term problems, but in the long run, we inherit a long-term problem, an employee that doesn’t fit here,” Freitas said.
Freitas said he wants officers who are better trained and who are better educated than officers of the past. In solving crimes, they also must be able to communicate with the community, he said. “We are looking for people with multi-talents.” Those who are interested in applying for a job with the Kaua’i Police Department can call Sgt. Clint Bettencourt at 241-6768 or the county’s Personnel Services at 241-6595.
