HPD Police Chief Boisse Correa

[Kaonohi]

I'm shocked, but not surprised.
Under Boisse's mantle we have seen a decrease in crime.
Maybe he was just too good to be true.

I remember that line from Capt. Bryant in Blade Runner:
"If you ain't cop, you're little people!"

When Boisse took the helm I had faith in honesty in the force, the end of insider 'special considerations,' proper training for our cops who don't know how to shoot. Boisse was above board. I knew him through several mutual connections. He was strict and uncompromising, but he was honest and 'for the people.' He demanded proper conduct from his men, and it seems they held it against him.

Let's look at just a few things:

May 06, 2009

The police chief's contract is up renewal in four months and Wednesday, he received high marks from the police commission about his performance.
The full commission and Chief Boisse Correa met behind closed doors Wednesday for his annual evaluation.
Commission chair Christine Camp praised Correa on his leadership and managerial skills as well as his relationship with the commission.

He received an award from the Montreal Conference of Police
COMMUNICATIONS REACCREDITED:
Honolulu (HI) Police Department Communications Division
Chief Boisse P. Correa

And now, because of his excellent performance:

May 20, 2009
Honolulu's police commission is looking for a new chief. Boisse Correa will soon be out.
In the end, it didn't come down to performance. The conflict between Chief Boisse Correa and the police commission was over-commitment.
Correa has been on the force for 39 years. He will serve out the rest of his contract, which ends Aug. 27.
The chief and the commission met behind closed doors Wednesday for about an hour, talking about the chief's contract.
The commission says the decision not to renew boiled down to how long the chief was willing to serve.
"At this point, the charter requires us to evaluate for the next five years, an appointment of the chief for 5 years," said Honolulu Police Commission chair Christine Camp. "In our judgement we don't believe he'll serve for 5 years."
"For the record, it wasn't about 5 or 1, it wasn't about job performance, it was about the commission wanting a new chief for the next 5 years," said Correa.
==========================================

If you have been following the situation, you know this is shibai.

The rank-and-file didn't like Chief Correa. He demanded they be honest, he demanded they do their jobs properly and not take advantage of their special position as policemen.

No more 'skimming,' no more 'short returns' of drugs or captured losses. No more selective arrests.
He just wanted good cops, honest cops, but our HPD thought he was asking too much. It was not the commission that ousted him, but the pressure put on the commission from the rank-and-file. We have the cart pulling the horse. The guys who don't know how to shoot, nor apprehend a suspect without killing him, and who think jaywalking and speeding tickets are more important than felony arrests.

Chief Correa is the best chief I have seen in the past 30 years. The commission agrees. But the commission is knuckling under to the cops who don't want to toe the line.

Back to business as usual.

Yes. I'm angry, and appalled. And disgusted.

We are letting the commission kick out the best chief we have had in decades, knuckling under to dishonest cops who are afraid of the job they were hired for.

This is my opinion. It will not change. You are entitled to your opposing position, and you can even construct some elaborate arguments to defend your opposition opinion. I may even read a few, but I believe my perception is correct, and I won't argue with you or answer challenges, FWIW.

Boisse did a good job and got a raw deal. The commissions reasoning was BS - he would have stayed - it's just an excuse. I know.

Welcome to Hawai`i.

[scrivener]

Re: HPD Police Chief, Boisse Correa.

While your explanations are probably slightly exaggerated, the essence is something I can agree with. There's no reason his replacement couldn't be even better, so I don't see this as the beginning of a bad thing, but I didn't see a situation here that needed fixing. Props to Chief Correa.

[anapuni808]

Re: HPD Police Chief, Boisse Correa.

Correa is 63 yrs old, served 37 yrs already with HPD, and apparently didn't want to commit to the mandated 5 year contract required by the Commission rules. At least, that's what been reported in the news. If that's truly the case - the commission had no choice but to look for a new chief.

My concern is it's been mentioned that the search for a new chief will also be conducted on the mainland. I think the new one should be chosen from amongst the ranks - apparently there are already a few Majors who have shown interest.

[Jim75]

Re: HPD Police Chief, Boisse Correa.

The tv news said 87% of police wanted a new chief. One guy said the Chief's management style was like a dictatorship. I got the impression that the one year or five year contract was just a smoke screen diversion covering these underlying issues.

[scrivener]

Re: HPD Police Chief, Boisse Correa.

A certain local politician with a penchant for singing wouldn't commit to a complete four-year term, but the electorate put him back in office anyway. I agree with the chief: the five-year commitment thing is not what it's about.

[Frankie's Market]

Re: HPD Police Chief, Boisse Correa.

I agree with the chief: the five-year commitment thing is not what it's about.

Perhaps. Maybe it partly has to do with this.

HPD firing range $5M over budget, 3 years behind schedule

A myriad of design flaws in the new firing range facility are described. But here's what gets me.

It's still unclear why the firing range so far has cost twice as much as planned and is three years behind schedule. HPD declined a request for access to the $10 million facility and the agency referred questions about cost overruns to the city's Department of Design and Construction. Craig Nishimura, the department's director, did not return repeated messages concerning the indoor firing range.

Gee, HPD denying media request for access to a taxpayer-funded facility. And HPD personnel not answering questions and/or referring them to another dept.

Uhhh, does the chief have anything to say on the matter? A firing range that is costing taxpayers double of the original estimate is bad enough. Refusing to answer questions and trying to dodge accountability takes the cake.

It makes me wonder if Chief Correa was keeping on top of this important project, or was he distracted with other matters. And if he was exercising proper supervision over the development of the firing range, why did he allow the cost overruns to go out of control like this?

[anapuni808]

Re: HPD Police Chief, Boisse Correa.

A certain local politician with a penchant for singing wouldn't commit to a complete four-year term, but the electorate put him back in office anyway. I agree with the chief: the five-year commitment thing is not what it's about.

well,. this particular "electorate" didn't vote for him - for precisely that reason! well, that and I just don't like bullys!

[anapuni808]

Re: HPD Police Chief Boisse Correa

I'm NOT sticking up here for Correa. Just wanted to get that straight before anyone jumps on me.

I am curious though - do we know that he was the person responsible for oversight of the firing range costs? My husband used to take me out to the Koko Head one with him so I could learn how to shoot - it was pretty cool to get to fire the police officer's weapons!

I have no idea how many here are familiar with how HPD works, but they are just like any other big civilian organization: Once you get up in the ranks, there is a tremendous amount of politics that go on.

[Frankie's Market]

Re: HPD Police Chief Boisse Correa

I am curious though - do we know that he was the person responsible for oversight of the firing range costs?

He may not be the sole person responsible for the new HPD firing range going over budget. But surely, as the police chief, Boisse Correa had to have been involved in the development of the project.

Think about it: If Chief Correa cannot answer any questions about why the project was delayed by 3 years,..... if he has to defer questions to another dept. about why this whole thing went $5 million over the allotted budget, what does this say about how his leadership presence (or lack thereof) over HPD? Seems to me that it does give some creedence to complaints about Correa being detached from important matters taking place within his dept.

And if Correa was keeping on top of everything,..... and the firing range construction still went over budget and over time, then what does that say about his administrative oversight?

It may sound like I am putting Boisse Correa in a double-jeopardy situation. But hey, somebody has to be accountable for this serious snafu. If it was the folks at the Design & Construction Dept. solely responsible for dropping the ball on this, well, I would like to hear a full explanation on what precisely happened and exactly who is responsible. For both departments to stay mum on the matter,.... not a good sign, if you ask me.

[anapuni808]

Re: HPD Police Chief Boisse Correa

I agree with you that there should be more disclosure made to the taxpayers. and the lack of it shows me that either 1) no body wants to take responsibility or, 2) the politicians are thinking we're all stupid out here and if they ignore it, we won't notice. and that ticks me off.

[TuNnL]

Re: HPD Police Chief, Boisse Correa.

HPD firing range $5M over budget, 3 years behind schedule

A myriad of design flaws in the new firing range facility are described. But here's what gets me.

It's still unclear why the firing range so far has cost twice as much as planned and is three years behind schedule. HPD declined a request for access to the $10 million facility and the agency referred questions about cost overruns to the city's Department of Design and Construction. Craig Nishimura, the department's director, did not return repeated messages concerning the indoor firing range.

Gee, HPD denying media request for access to a taxpayer-funded facility. And HPD personnel not answering questions and/or referring them to another dept.

When I read this story, it made my blood boil. One of the big negatives about Chief Correa is his consistent crackdown on the rights of the media. One of the rules he tried to implement is that sergeants could no longer conduct interviews with reporters at crime scenes. You had to be a major or above. I’m sorry, but for most crimes, majors don’t even come to the scene, especially if they’ve already had dinner. The effect was to release less information to the public. I am told that policy was in effect for several months before Correa finally relented.

So the question becomes, who’s responsibility is it to be accountable? If it’s Craig Nishimura, then he should be fired. Where does he think his paycheck comes from? If he’s this unresponsive about a single building, just imagine the situation if/when rail transit goes over budget.

[anapuni808]

Re: HPD Police Chief Boisse Correa

and we all KNOW it will go over budget! read an article this morning that revenue dedicated to rail is way under what was anticipated to be collected this year.

[Kaonohi]

HPD Police Chief, Boisse Correa - Honolulu's loss.

One of the big negatives about Chief Correa is his consistent crackdown on the rights of the media. One of the rules he tried to implement is that sergeants could no longer conduct interviews with reporters at crime scenes. You had to be a major or above.

His crackdown on media releases was appropriate - when cops release opinions rather than facts, it causes problems; he wanted to ensure media got correct information, not opinions.

Boisse is a highly educated cop. Before becoming chief he took numerous classes in subjects to improve his management skills and social interaction.
He knew HPD was lacking, and behind the times, and an accident waiting to... uh wait.... several HPD botch-ups occurred before he took the reins.

He tightened up the dept., and the street cops didn't like it. They didn't like being treated like 'regular people.' They didn't like being suspended and disarmed while under investigation for misconduct - like most other big-city cops are, BTW. They didn't like their new schedules - I can't say they were better or worse, but I trust Boisse. He wanted to bring HPD into the 21st century - or at least the 20th century. He dragged them kicking and screaming and they didn't like it. They liked special 'cop' privilege and status; they didn't want to toe the line. So they complained, and bitched, and moaned. But they didn't quit, at least not in big numbers.

My Brother-in-law was on the force during the turmoil and he wondered what all the huhu was about. Of course he recently came from a mainland force where all that Boisse proposed was already S.O.P. He felt Boisse was right on, as many of us did.

Our wimpy, reactive, half-blind HPD couldn't handle, so they whined. The union heard them, and started their campaign to undermine Boisse.

This had nothing to do with 5 year commitment, length of contract; they were just looking for an excuse, and goofy mufi jumped on the bandwagon not even knowing what he was talking about.

Chief Correa knew the HPD couldn't shoot straight, and was on top of the push for the shooting range and training center. Cost overruns and blame is just another log on the fire. Police chiefs don't do and are not responsible for construction budgets. Read the original article - appropriate people were assigned to the construction and there were delays and overruns. Big surprise! This is Hawaii - everything takes longer and costs more. Using this as an excuse for not renewing his contract is naive, at the very least.

His contract was not continued for one reason, and one reason only. He was too good for Honolulu, and HPD couldn't handle. Wimps.


Of course, the search for a new chief is extending even to the mainland, and the rank and file may be VERY surprised at the outcome of their actions.
Be careful what you wish for, for you just may get it.

[Frankie's Market]

Re: HPD Police Chief, Boisse Correa.

When I read this story, it made my blood boil. One of the big negatives about Chief Correa is his consistent crackdown on the rights of the media. One of the rules he tried to implement is that sergeants could no longer conduct interviews with reporters at crime scenes. You had to be a major or above. I’m sorry, but for most crimes, majors don’t even come to the scene, especially if they’ve already had dinner. The effect was to release less information to the public. I am told that policy was in effect for several months before Correa finally relented.

You nailed it. Glad that I'm not the only person who was thinking this. Not everybody in this town has been duped.

This lack of transparency smacks of arrogance on the part of Correa. You also brought up his short-lived rule regarding media interviews. The fact that he had to back-track on this policy proved that his idea was ill-conceived and not well thought out. Lesse', arrogance and impetuous decision making,..... a bad combination of traits for a leader of a major law-enforcement agency, IMO.

So the question becomes, who’s responsibility is it to be accountable? If it’s Craig Nishimura, then he should be fired. Where does he think his paycheck comes from? If he’s this unresponsive about a single building, just imagine the situation if/when rail transit goes over budget.

An investigation is definitely called for to get to the bottom of this. A careful audit of the project should be carried out, as a first step. $5 million in cost overruns is not chump change. Needless to say, anyone responsible for wasteful spending should pay for it with their jobs, no matter what department they are in. And if there's any evidence of wrongdoing, prosecution should be in the offing.

[Kaonohi]

Re: HPD Police Chief, Boisse Correa.

So the question becomes, who’s responsibility is it to be accountable? If it’s Craig Nishimura, then he should be fired. Where does he think his paycheck comes from? If he’s this unresponsive about a single building, just imagine the situation if/when rail transit goes over budget.

Does this mean we get to Impeach Goofy Mufi? The "Do we need it? Can we afford it?" fraud?

Surely we neither need it nor can we afford it.

Letting Boisse go is like shooting all Honolulu in the foot!

Finally we have an honest chief. No good deed goes unpunished in Honolulu, and the fallen will drag the successful down.

Should Boisse have to pay for Craig Nishimura's screwup? If so, than so should Mufi.