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Chief says MPD is addressing issues raised in officer survey

Report released by police union shows one-third of officers considering leaving

By Lila Fujimoto 6 min read

WAILUKU -- Police Chief John Pelletier said the department has addressed some issues raised in a survey showing low morale among Maui Police Department officers, who gave overall negative ratings to Pelletier in 12 of 13 leadership categories.

At a news conference Wednesday at the Wailuku Police Station, Pelletier said the survey, conducted in April when he had been in the job for about four months, was "premature."

"But I will not marginalize my employees or the public perspective," he said. "This administration inherited a department with several critical challenges, staffing and morale being two of those."

At the end of May, 300 of the 400 officer positions were filled for a 75 percent staffing rate.

"Although we did not create this staffing shortage or these other issues, I am responding now," Pelletier said. "We are responding now and we are tackling these issues each and every day."

The State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers commissioned the survey, which was done from April 12 to 22 by a third-party consulting company. The survey, covering an array of issues, drew anonymous responses from 158 MPD officers, sergeants and lieutenants.

Those responding represent about 60 percent of the department's rank and file, SHOPO President Robert Cavaco said at a separate news conference Wednesday at the Maui Beach Hotel. "The results are concerning," he said.

Asked if they were considering leaving MPD in the next two years, 33.95 percent answered yes, with low morale and low pay identified as the top reasons. Of those responding, 43.83 percent said they planned to stay for now.

When officers were asked to rate morale on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest, the average rating was 4.1 percent.

Cavaco said the union again tried to arrange a meeting with Pelletier on Wednesday but hadn't gotten a response from him.

"We are hoping we can have a collaborative discussion with the leadership here at MPD to try and address some of the issues, especially morale," Cavaco said. "We really want to help the chief to bridge that gap and to find solutions. We would hope that he doesn't turn a blind eye to it."

Sgt. Nick Krau, SHOPO Maui Chapter chairperson, said that when Pelletier, who had been a captain at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, was selected as chief, "we had an opportunity for a fresh start."

"That's what we were hoping for," he said. "We didn't get it. It's almost like we're being punished for some of the decisions the past administration made, and that's not right."

He said working conditions, including long work hours especially in patrol, were making it hard for officers to do their jobs.

The union didn't solicit the officers' responses for the survey, Krau said.

"It was the members that came to us," Krau said. "The men and women of the Maui Police Department came to us, saying, 'We want our voices to be heard. We want to get our message out there and we want to be transparent and open with the community we serve.' "

Pelletier, who has been chief for six months, said at his news conference that organizational change "takes five to seven years."

Krau said "we don't have five to 10 years."

"We need to serve this community now, tomorrow, tonight, today," he said. "We need to be right in what we do now."

"It's not an attack against the chief," Krau said. "We wanted to present this information to him and other people who can make the changes to make these working conditions better. We were trying to help him."

Cavaco said "the ball is in the chief's court" to decide what happens next.

A first step would be to meet with officers and let them air their concerns, Cavaco said. "I think the Maui police officers would respect his leadership more if they were just heard," he said. "For the chief to sit down and listen to that -- that's what a real leader is."

Krau said the union has heard from members that Pelletier hasn't gone to certain sections of the department to talk about their concerns.

"They get a lot of orders coming down, a lot of changes coming down," Krau said. "But they're not able to voice their concerns.

"The officers want to know what those changes are going to be and why."

He said officers want to support Pelletier's direction for the department. "If we don't know what that direction is or how we're going to go in that direction, it creates a lot of confusion," he said.

At a Maui Police Commission meeting Wednesday, Chairman Frank De Rego said "this morale issue probably predated" Pelletier "by at least a year if not before."

Speaking at the SHOPO news conference, Krau said: "I can tell you without a doubt the morale is the lowest it has ever been in my 22 years in the department. And it has decreased significantly since the beginning of this year. The huge thing is the lack of communication, the communication breakdown between the administration and officers."

While Pelletier didn't say at his news conference what issues raised in the survey had been addressed, he said at the Police Commission meeting that pay for off-duty assignments was raised and the department may implement a schedule that would have officers working three 12-hour shifts in five of the six patrol districts.

He said the schedule change, requested by officers, was one way of trying to retain them.

"This survey points out, and we agree, recruiting is crucial, it's critical," Pelletier said at the news conference.

Referring to the officer shortage, Cavaco said "absolutely it's affecting public safety."

"It's a crisis," he said.

With three or four officers assigned to patrol some large outlying areas, "it's definitely a safety risk," Cavaco said.

"We're hearing from members in the department that the standards are being lowered to try and get as many people in the department," he said. "We're going to get people that shouldn't be wearing a badge and serving the public. The people that are going to suffer are members of the community."

Krau said he didn't think police services have been compromised "but we're not very far away from that happening, especially with the results of the survey that one-third of the officers we currently have are considering leaving."

When the survey asked if officers felt the Police Commission was fair and objective in making decisions that affect the department, 72 percent said no.

After the meeting, De Rego said he wasn't authorized to speak for the commission and had no comment.

* Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.

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