Honolulu City Councilman Charles K. Djou (Waikiki, East Honolulu) announced today that he will introduce reforms to address the ongoing problems related to the Honolulu Police Commission’s selection of the new Honolulu Police Department Chief.

“In the near term, we still need to address the immediate concern over how the current Police Commission handled the selection of HPD’s new chief,” Djou said in a news release. “Over the long term, I think we also need to reform the structure of the Police Commission to avoid even the appearance of any one individual exerting undue influence over the police. Rather than have the mayor appoint all seven police commissioners, I will introduce legislation to have the mayor, the City Council and the city prosecutor each appoint two commissioners. The chair of the commission would be appointed by the mayor, subject to City Council confirmation, under my proposal.”
Djou said the failure of transparency in the selection of HPD’s new chief has undermined the public’s trust in the process.
The full City Council today will hear resolutions suggested by the Public Safety Committee on establishing an investigative committee on what happened with the police chief selection process and make a statement of no confidence in the Police Commission chair. The Police Commission said it plans to name a new police chief sometime today.