A plan by the Honolulu Police Department to move 100 officers to patrol work in November will not terminate some police youth programs after all.
HPD Chief David Lazar announced last Thursday that, as part of an effort to improve police response times and reduce overtime expenses, 100 officers would be reassigned from various HPD units to patrol duties.
However, late on Monday, HPD clarified that those staffing changes will not impact programs such as HPD’s Police Activities League — which provides youth sports programs — or the Junior Police Officer program, which provides traffic safety assistance at O‘ahu schools.
HPD’s announcement on Monday stated that “HPD has heard from the community, and we agree on the importance of our youth programs,” and that the PAL and JPO programs will remain in place with no changes as a result of community feedback.
“HPD recognizes the importance of these programs and what they mean to the families, students, and communities we serve,” HPD’s announcement read. “We value the relationships we've built through these programs and have worked hard to find ways to preserve both PAL and JPO.”
In addition, HPD’s Law Enforcement Explorers and Police Services Officer programs, which offer guidance to students interested in law enforcement careers, will also continue unchanged.
However, not all programs will be retained. The Drug Abuse Resistance Education program will be “put on hold” after the end of the current session.
As of Oct. 18, 54 officers from HPD’s Fourth Watch training unit have already been reassigned to patrol, and additional personnel will be shifted to patrol throughout November. HPD stated that the department “will still be able to maintain [its] administrative and investigative services” after the reallocations.
Lazar said last Thursday that the changes in staffing will continue indefinitely as officer recruitment continues. In addition, he said HPD overran its $6.8 million overtime budget by about $6 million in the first quarter of 2026, before his appointment as chief.
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