{"id":2750,"date":"2026-07-18T05:04:39","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T05:04:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2750"},"modified":"2026-07-18T05:04:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T05:04:39","slug":"kauai-police-chief-outlines-priorities-solutions-amid-staffing-shortage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2750","title":{"rendered":"Kauai police chief outlines priorities, solutions amid staffing shortage"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<section>\n<p>LIHUE (HawaiiNewsNow) &#8211; Much like Oahu\u2019s police department, the Kauai Police Department is also facing staffing challenges.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2748\">Deal clears way for Kilauea District Park programs to continue<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Chief Rudy Tai met with Hawaii News Now in a one-on-one interview to outline his priorities for the department since he stepped into the job just over four months ago.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStaffing is hard. It\u2019s an issue that we\u2019re dealing with right now,\u201d Chief Tai said. \u201cWe are down about 32 officers, and so when we look at the staffing and how we can better serve our communities, we gotta really hire people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tai said the department is building a pipeline of future KPD employees by launching a cadet program aimed at recruiting local residents, giving them career opportunities at home.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cAt 18 years old, you can join the Kauai Police Department and be part of our law enforcement team. You\u2019re not a sworn officer, but you\u2019re gonna support officers out there. You make $65,000 a year,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<p>The department is also looking to hire detectives and promote talent within the ranks to fill supervisor roles.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe would like to do promotions in the future so that we can really prepare future leaders to take over this department,\u201d Tai added.<\/p>\n<p>Improving communication with the public is another priority. Officials are looking to streamline community alerts with new technology.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2746\">Visually impaired Kaneohe golfer wins at US Adaptive Open<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Kauai County Council Public Safety Committee chair Felicia Cowden worked closely with Chief Tai in his first few months on the job.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would say he has beat my expectations of being receptive accountable, caring, wanting to help. He hasn\u2019t in any way been dismissive or defensive or trying to move away from it happening. So he gets a double thumbs up from me,\u201d Cowden said. <\/p>\n<p>Chief Tai may rely on that support as he looks to expand the department with new positions, including a possible community relations officer and a recruiting unit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think as we move further in the future, one thing I will be asking is for more funding to staff more officers or staff more positions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Tai said he plans to stay in touch with other county police chiefs to figure out best ways to handle community crimes and reshape the image of law enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe wanna be out there. We wanna change the perception of when you see an officer it\u2019s something negative. We\u2019re trying to flip that. When you see an officer, it\u2019s something positive,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2744\">Trace levels of selenium detected in Makawao water system<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kauai Police Chief Rudy Tai says the department is down 32 officers and is launching a cadet program while pursuing hires, promotions and better public alerts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2749,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Kauai police chief outlines priorities, solutions amid staffing shortage - 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=2750\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kauai police chief outlines priorities, solutions amid staffing shortage - Hawaii Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kauai Police Chief Rudy Tai says the department is down 32 officers and is launching a cadet program while pursuing hires, promotions and better public alerts.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2750\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hawaii Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-18T05:04:39+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=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2750#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2750\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0\"},\"headline\":\"Kauai police chief outlines priorities, solutions amid staffing shortage\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-18T05:04:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2750\"},\"wordCount\":449,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2750#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/5ff9b83df8e7816d1769ca13fc3be267.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2750#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2750\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2750\",\"name\":\"Kauai police chief outlines priorities, solutions amid staffing shortage - Hawaii Moving Insider\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2750#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2750#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/5ff9b83df8e7816d1769ca13fc3be267.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-18T05:04:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2750#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2750\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2750#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/5ff9b83df8e7816d1769ca13fc3be267.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/5ff9b83df8e7816d1769ca13fc3be267.avif\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2750#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Kauai police chief outlines priorities, solutions amid staffing shortage\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Hawaii Moving Insider\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Kauai police chief outlines priorities, solutions amid staffing shortage - Hawaii Moving Insider","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2750","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Kauai police chief outlines priorities, solutions amid staffing shortage - Hawaii Moving Insider","og_description":"Kauai Police Chief Rudy Tai says the department is down 32 officers and is launching a cadet program while pursuing hires, promotions and better public alerts.","og_url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2750","og_site_name":"Hawaii Moving Insider","article_published_time":"2026-07-18T05:04:39+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2750#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2750"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0"},"headline":"Kauai police chief outlines priorities, solutions amid staffing shortage","datePublished":"2026-07-18T05:04:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2750"},"wordCount":449,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2750#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5ff9b83df8e7816d1769ca13fc3be267.avif","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2750#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2750","url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2750","name":"Kauai police chief outlines priorities, solutions amid staffing shortage - Hawaii Moving Insider","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2750#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2750#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5ff9b83df8e7816d1769ca13fc3be267.avif","datePublished":"2026-07-18T05:04:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2750#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2750"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2750#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5ff9b83df8e7816d1769ca13fc3be267.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5ff9b83df8e7816d1769ca13fc3be267.avif","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=2750#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Kauai police chief outlines priorities, solutions amid staffing shortage"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/","name":"Hawaii Moving Insider","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com"],"url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}