Police Officer Preparation & Law Enforcement Resource - Archive

I am still in college(graduating in fall '09) but I have been considering the Honolulu Police Department for some time now. I was just wondering about how open they are at accepting mainlanders? I understand that they are now hiring heavily from the mainland. I don't really mind the pay, it's Hawaii. If I lived there I wouldn't care about the money. Also, I was wondering what the whole hiring process was like.

are you kidding me!?! not another HOCKEY! LMAO!

welcome to RP

Oh crap! Hockey reproduced. :eek:

Aw schnikes..you gotta be kidding me...haha


You can't have that SN :p

Well Hockey uh, Jr....

Honolulu is a very busy place with terrible pay, but they do allow you to pick your own patrol vehicle after you get off probation.

HI loses many of it's officers to other depts in the country due to pay issues, it's very expensive to live in HI.

Just keep in mind, what you see on DOG is minimal, they have a huge drug problem. People get hurt out there.

Noone joins LE for the money, but if you think you can survive out there then I say go for it.

I've been to Oahu many times, and I realize it's different than living there. My parents have a close family friend that lives there so I don't think it would be too tough to make it if I stick close to my budget. I will also be planning on being married by the time i move there. She will most likely become a teacher. I have read that they have the Good Neighbor Next Door program. Basically LE/teachers/fire get 50% off the sale price of the home. Have you heard of anyone using this?

p.s. thanks for your answers. I posted this on Officer.com and got nothing.

I've been to Oahu many times, and I realize it's different than living there. My parents have a close family friend that lives there so I don't think it would be too tough to make it if I stick close to my budget. I will also be planning on being married by the time i move there. She will most likely become a teacher. I have read that they have the Good Neighbor Next Door program. Basically LE/teachers/fire get 50% off the sale price of the home. Have you heard of anyone using this?

p.s. thanks for your answers. I posted this on Officer.com and got nothing.

Thats because over there, they are busy causing so much drama, they can't focus on the real questions ;)

I have read that they have the Good Neighbor Next Door program. Basically LE/teachers/fire get 50% off the sale price of the home. Have you heard of anyone using this?

This is a nationwide HUD program. It's true that there are some great deals out there if you want to use the program, however only certain properties are eligible. These eligible properties are usually in "distressed" areas where you probably wouldn't want to live anyway. If you don't mind living in a bad neighborhood then go for it.

I can't give you an answer about how open HPD is to hiring mainlanders, however up until 10 years or so ago they only took applications from Hawaii residents. I looked into them quite a few years ago, however back then they really didn't make things easy for anyone coming to test from the mainland. There were no accelerated testing programs and you had to make a separate trip to Hawaii for each step of the process. I don't know if they changed that or not, but it really discouraged mainlanders from applying without actually prohibiting it.

The last time I was in Maui, I spoke with one of their command officers who told me that they are having to look more outside Hawaii for applicants. There just aren't the number of qualified locals applying. I can't say if that's true in Honolulu or not.

the only reason why i mentioned the HUD program was because I would be interested in fixing the place up hoping to make money at the end of the 3 years to hopefully help to afford a better place. I did some digging on my own and they have narrowed the trips to Hawaii down to 3 trips. But they are willing to meet you half way in the mainland if you cannot afford to miss days at work. Thanks for all of your help. My dad just looked up their contract with the Hawaii police union. They will be getting paid 52600 starting salary in 2011. That is around the time I was planning on moving their anyway so hopefully that will help a bit with the expenses.

I couldn't resist......:D

This looks like a very cool show :)


WUeacmnyS84

I am still in college(graduating in fall '09) but I have been considering the Honolulu Police Department for some time now. I was just wondering about how open they are at accepting mainlanders? I understand that they are now hiring heavily from the mainland. I don't really mind the pay, it's Hawaii. If I lived there I wouldn't care about the money. Also, I was wondering what the whole hiring process was like.

Starting salary for a HPD recruit is approximately in the low 40's. You don't automatically get to pick your own car once you are off probation, you need to put in about 7-10 years then apply for a subsidized vehicle and get accepted.

Housing in Hawaii is EXPENSIVE. There is very little or no HUD "Cop Next Door houses" available in Hawaii. You do understand that these HUD discounted houses are in BAD neighborhoods right? If you want to live in an AVERAGE house (10-20 years old) in a DECENT neighborhood, expect to pay arond $600+. And that's for a house approximately 1,500 sq ft. under the roof on 5,000 sq ft of land.

Hawaii has one of the most expensive gas prices around and the food is expensive also ($6 for a gallon of milk). Living in Hawaii is not as easy as you think, especially on a cop salary. Average rent for a two bedroom 800 sq ft apartment will run you about $1,600-$2,000 a month. Nice condos here average about $600,000 for a two bedroom with one parking, and a maintenance fee of about $500+ a month.

Also, the HPD has started to severly cut back on officer overtime and special duty. Where you had officers making tons on OT and special duty before, it has been limited with restrictions on how many hours you can work etc.

Hawaii is a great place and good luck to you if you decide to try and make a go there. I know federal agents who get paid $100,000+ a year who couldn't make it in Hawaii but it's worth a try.

Check out housing prices by googling oahure.com