{"id":107,"date":"2026-05-15T08:39:05","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T08:39:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=107"},"modified":"2026-05-15T08:39:05","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T08:39:05","slug":"honolulu-police-chief-finalists-answer-questions-in-live-pbs-forum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=107","title":{"rendered":"Honolulu police chief finalists answer questions in live PBS forum"},"content":{"rendered":"
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HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The three finalists to be Honolulu\u2019s next police chief made their only joint public appearance Thursday night on the PBS Hawaii \u201cInsights\u201d program.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s the only chance the public has to see Scott Ebner, Mike Lambert and David Lazar answer questions on the big issues before one of them is picked to lead the Honolulu Police Department.<\/p>\n

Lazar was asked about how he would go about filling the 460 vacancies in the department.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to go big and we need to go bold,\u201d he said. \u201cIf I become chief, I\u2019m doubling the size of the recruitment unit. I\u2019m putting an assistance chief in charge of what\u2019s happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Lambert — the only Hawaii resident of the three finalists — pointed to his record leading the state Department of Law Enforcement, where he said he increased the number of sheriff deputy recruits, even though the pay is much lower than at HPD.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we started to ask the deputies \u2018why us?\u2019 Why us over another agency even though we pay less, they said you guys seem more exciting. You guys seem like you\u2019re doing new things,\u201d Lambert said.<\/p>\n

Ebner, who\u2019s currently a chief in Georgia, talked about other chiefs on the continental U.S. who were successful in new cities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey went into the departments — they weren\u2019t from there. But they brought in the expertise, the respect, the professionalism, and they were transparent,\u201d Ebner said. \u201cI did that in every job that I\u2019ve had in police work from when I was a police officer in Florida to 27 years in the New Jersey State Police.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Lambert said HPD\u2019s reputation still needs to be repaired in the wake of disgraced chief Louis Kealoha, who was convicted of conspiracy and obstruction of justice.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the chief who screwed up. But yet we all paid the consequences,\u201d Lambert said. \u201cTo this day they\u2019re wondering, oh if we give Mike a chance, will he be like Louis? I\u2019m nothing like Louis. I\u2019m a different person. I have different values.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ebner pledged to make capital improvements to the department if he becomes chief.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went by facilities, vehicles, equipment, and its all in disarray. Who\u2019s planning here for the last five, ten 15, 20 years? Strategically, capital improvement plans — these are very important, and that all needs to be addressed right now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Lazar said ultimately, more work also needs to be done to attract the next generation to law enforcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really need to promote that with our young people about making a difference and helping people for the greater good, and really show them what the nobility of policing really means,\u201d said Lazar.<\/p>\n

The Honolulu Police Commission will choose one of them as the new police chief next Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Read more Honolulu Police Chief candidates take questions from the public in live forum<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scott Ebner, Mike Lambert and David Lazar answered questions from viewers, days before one of them is chosen to be the city’s top cop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":106,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nHonolulu police chief finalists answer questions in live PBS forum - Hawaii Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=107\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Honolulu police chief finalists answer questions in live PBS forum - Hawaii Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Scott Ebner, Mike Lambert and David Lazar answered questions from viewers, days before one of them is chosen to be the city's top cop.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=107\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hawaii Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-15T08:39:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=107#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=107\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0\"},\"headline\":\"Honolulu police chief finalists answer questions in live PBS forum\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-15T08:39:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=107\"},\"wordCount\":518,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=107#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/4ee3ddc349d641b475216650f3bc2e11.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=107#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=107\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=107\",\"name\":\"Honolulu police chief finalists answer questions in live PBS forum - 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