HONOLULU (KHON2) — Honolulu Police Department Chief Arthur “Joe” Logan officially addressed the police commission for the first time in his new role as head of HPD addressing issues of crime and the officer shortage.
The meeting was fairly upbeat with many of the commissioners congratulating the new chief. Logan, in turn, expressed gratitude for the opportunity to serve the community.
Logan talked about his experiences the past week, congratulating the recent recruiting class and leading the Troy Barboza Law Enforcement Torch Run for the Special Olympics, as opportunities to help him improve communication and build relationships within the department.
He then addressed the uptick in burglaries.
“It’s not really smash-and-grab robberies but it’s burglaries where people throw rocks through windows and go inside and take things,” Logan explained.
He said there have been 24 since early May: 10 in District 7, two in District 3, six in District 4 and six in District 8.
“We’re working on leads towards solving these burglaries and the team continues to do the investigations,” said Logan.
Logan also talked about extending the three-day-12-hour workweek pilot program until the end of the year to gauge its impact on the department.
“So we can we see how this impacts arrests. Is it increasing, staying the same or does it decrease? And if it did decrease, why?” Logan asked. “And if they’re working 12-hour days perhaps there’s fatigue. And then you could see an impact in more vehicle accidents involving officers.”
The program is currently running in two districts. If the data looks positive, he could implement the 3/12 work week, island-wide.
Shannon Alivado, HPD’s commission chair, said the department has waited long enough for their leadership to be put in place and she feels Logan will give them a good sense of direction.
But Alivado said the commission would like to see him focus on a couple more things.
“I think the increased crime that some of us in our communities are feeling is a very important focus area and I think he’s been hearing from the community with respect to those concerns,” Alivado explained. “I really would like to see some focus in that area as well as officer retention and recruitment.”
In the meeting, Logan also talked about attending the National Police Chief’s Association in October. Logan said he sees it as an opportunity to learn from other chiefs to see what has worked and what hasn’t worked in other departments across the country.
