HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – After a nearly year-long search, the Honolulu Police Commission chose David Lazar as Honolulu’s next police chief Wednesday.

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The announcement came after public testimony and deliberations over three finalists that also included Mike Lambert and Scott Ebner. Lazar received five votes; Lambert received two votes.

Following the announcement, Lazar said he was “just a little overwhelmed. Tears of joy. Thankful to God that I have this tremendous opportunity and awesome responsibility to be Honolulu’s next chief.”

Lazar is a retired assistant chief from the San Francisco Police Department who worked his way up the ranks over 33 years.

His wife’s family is from Kahuku and Halawa, but he himself does not have ties.

“It’s not easy coming from the outside, and I come from a place where outsiders were not welcome,” he said. “But I saw an outside chief come to our department, and he was gracious and he was humble and he was respectful, and he worked hard with the men and women of the department to move it forward. That’s my plan as the next chief.”

He previously told HNN he hopes to bring modernization, transparency and stronger community trust to the Honolulu Police Department.

“I may be the future chief, but I’m going to be relying on this team to move the department forward, and I’m going to be there to support them and to come in there and make sure that they feel valued — that they have autonomy, that they have the tools that they need, that they have the resources they need to be great,” Lazar said.

Lazar: ‘I’m in it for the long haul’

Despite having already retired after a three-decade career, Lazar said he’s committed to staying in Honolulu.

“I’m in it for the long haul. I’m in it for many years. I want to go way past the five years, but I want to be clear about something: I want to be the last outside chief of the Honolulu Police Department,” he said.

“This is an opportunity to really develop the next leaders — the Mike Lamberts and the command staff that’s behind you and the leaders that are coming up — so that when we modernize, so that when we’re an agency of best practices, when we have constitutional policing, when we have a high rating of the public really loving what HPD does, that we’re ready for the next chief to come from the inside — that everybody has been developed so that they can take over and lead. That’s my goal,” he said.

“But I’m not going anywhere. As long as you’ll have me, I’ll have you, and I will be here for the long haul because we have a lot of work to do,” he concluded.

Lazar says he’s anxious to get to work, but that won’t happen until early June, after his child’s high school graduation on the continent and other events.

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Search process was ‘extensive by design’

Commission chair Laurie Foster described the search process as inclusive, professional, and thorough.

“We’ve tried to make it as transparent as possible, and the overwhelming request of the community was modernization and transformation — good to great,” she said. ”That’s really what we heard from the community, and that’s what we tried hard to look at with these candidates.

“The conclusion of all the commissioners was that all three could have run this department effectively, and they are all super candidates. But we had to make a choice,” Foster said.

Earlier this week, the finalists underwent individual interviews with the SHOPO Board of Directors and Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi. The police commission conducted their interviews on Tuesday.

Lambert, a former Honolulu Police Department major, is in the process of leaving his post as head of the Hawaii Department of Law Enforcement to return to HPD and secure additional pension payouts.

He received overwhelming support in a survey by the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers (SHOPO), the police officers union, at nearly 90%.

Foster said now, “it’s really up to the community to embrace the new chief and to help — help the community. That’s what the community wants: modernization and transformation. We’ve made the difficult choice, but that choice has been made. And so we are hoping — and I think the community will step up — and help this chief do what he can, with all the skills that he brings. We’re counting on the community to help make this happen.”

Ebner was a finalist for the job three years ago and is a retired lieutenant colonel from the New Jersey State Police Department. He most recently served as chief for a department in Georgia.

All three appeared on the show Insights on PBS — their only joint public appearance prior to the selection.

Each finalist also participated in four panel interviews totaling 30+ community participants that included leaders from the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers (SHOPO), City Council members, community organization leaders and other leaders in the law enforcement community.

Lazar will replace Arthur “Joe” Logan, who announced his retirement last June amid criticism over a growing vacancy rate and rifts with the police union and mayor.

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Logan filed a lawsuit against the mayor later that year alleging retaliation.