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The Maui Police Commission is recommending a pay raise for Police Chief John Pelletier, from $158,851 to $205,000 per year, after only around 50 days on the job.
The commission has already altered Hawaii Revised Statute H.B. NO. 1534 to allow both a police chief and deputy chief to bypass the Hawaii residency requirement of one year.
Why can't we wait six months to see how things go?
Employees there say morale at Maui Police Department is as low as anyone working there has ever seen. They say they cannot support this new administration. Another two or three will retire within a few months.
Officers with 15 to 20 years are going to quit. They are willing to sacrifice the pensions they earned through years of hard work, just to get out.
What are we going to do if they all quit?
Who is going to vet new officers? It's a known fact that police departments all over the country have been infiltrated by hate groups - white supremacists, KKK, Oath Keepers, Proud Boys and much more.
MPD and Maui are melting pots of all cultures, working in harmony together – and we need to keep it that way.
Please, for the sake of the many honest and hardworking police officers at MPD, wait on the pay raise. It's like a slap in the face to them.
Deyna Puckett
Lahaina