The Honolulu Police Department’s difficulties in hiring officers causes it to send tens of millions of dollars budgeted for salaries back to the city’s general fund every year.
The police department left about $45 million of its $345 million budget unspent for the fiscal year that ended last June. That’s up from $18 million unspent in 2021, when the budget was $283 million.
“To see so much money sitting on the table when we all want HPD to succeed, it’s incredibly frustrating,” said City Council Budget Chair Tyler Dos Santos-Tam.
Dos Santos-Tam, City Council member Andria Tupola and the state police union say the city should spend some of that money on overtime to fill gaps in patrols and on bonuses so more people join the force and more officers delay retirement…