Honolulu Police Commission: Where’s Our Consultant?
The commission hoped to be swearing in a new police chief this summer. But a delay in hiring a consultant to assist in the search has pushed the timeline back to at least September.
Honolulu police commissioners appear to be losing patience in their search for a new police chief to replace Louis Kealoha, who retired in January amid corruption allegations.
One of the biggest hang-ups has been the hiring of a consultant who will help the police commissioners evaluate the 34 candidates who submitted applications to the city.
The commission was in final contract negotiations with a potential consultant last month, but officials said talks disintegrated, although they did not specify the reasons.
On Wednesday, the commission’s executive officer, Dan Lawrence told commissioners that he was again in the process of finalizing a contract with another consultant.
But he also said he was 鈥渘ot comfortable鈥 providing a specific timeline for hiring a consultant, grading the candidates and selecting a new chief.
鈥淭here鈥檚 so much stuff that鈥檚 out of our control,鈥 Lawrence said. 鈥淥nce the consultant is engaged then the time frame becomes much more definite.鈥
Only three groups, all of them from the mainland, submitted proposals for the consulting job.
On Wednesday, Commission Chairman Max Sword revealed that the consultant that聽聽was the top candidate that dropped out. He didn’t name the firm but it was聽the 聽that worked on the previous chief selection.
Lawrence told the commissioners that many of the groups specializing in hiring police chiefs prefer to come in as executive search firms, meaning that they take part in the search for candidates.
He noted that headhunters also tend to charge more money for those services.
Commissioner Loretta Sheehan questioned whether the commission should have gone that route in the first place to seek out candidates who are 鈥渂etter suited for the job.鈥
But at this point it appears to be too late, considering the number of candidates who have applied and the fact the city is already in negotiations with a consultant.
The concern is that any more changes to the process would result in even more delays in selecting the city鈥檚 next chief, something that might not happen until September.
鈥淧ersonally, I鈥檓 quite content with our game plan,鈥 Commissioner Steven Levinson said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not terribly worried about the adequacy of the pool. I just want to get the show on the road.鈥
The police commission has already notified the chief candidates of the delay.
