{"id":352,"date":"2026-05-20T07:35:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T07:35:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=352"},"modified":"2026-05-20T07:35:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T07:35:07","slug":"interim-honolulu-police-chief-rade-vanic-speaks-out-after-being-passed-over-for-permanent-position","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=352","title":{"rendered":"Interim Honolulu police chief Rade Vanic speaks out after being passed over for permanent position"},"content":{"rendered":"
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HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The Honolulu Police Commission will select a permanent police chief on Wednesday, and interim chief Rade Vanic says he has no idea why he was passed over again.<\/p>\n

Read more Hilo woman charged after alleged domestic incident, assault on officer<\/a><\/p>\n

After 26 years with the Honolulu Police Department, Vanic has served as interim chief twice. In an exclusive interview with Hawaii News Now, he said the Honolulu Police Commission gave him no indication why he was not selected as one of three finalists for the permanent job.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s what kind of led to the disappointment, maybe a little bit of frustration also,\u201d Vanic said.<\/p>\n

Vanic defends department progress<\/h1>\n

Vanic said after listening to interviews with other candidates, he wanted to change the narrative about the department.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cMorale is down, there\u2019s different things that are not being done, there are all of these different problems that the department is facing. It kind of just doesn\u2019t take into consideration all of the progress that we\u2019ve made,\u201d Vanic said.<\/p>\n

He cited the Safe and Sound program along the Leeward Coast, an island-wide drop in crime and doubling of police recruit class sizes. Vanic said morale is in a good place, despite the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers saying the opposite.<\/p>\n

\u201cMorale is good, but it can always get better,\u201d Vanic said.<\/p>\n

Jonathan Frye, vice-president of the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers, said morale remains low.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still pretty bad,\u201d Frye said. \u201cIt\u2019s mostly been status quo, right, across the board.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more City recognizes paramedic, EMT for North Shore family flood rescue<\/a><\/p>\n

Union survey shows support for Lambert<\/h1>\n

A SHOPO survey of 635 officers shows nearly 90 percent support former HPD major Mike Lambert as the next chief.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdvocate for our members, you know, local knowledge, trust, and in the community,\u201d Frye said.<\/p>\n

SHOPO says recruitment and retention are among top concerns. Vacancies have hit 460.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Vanic said the department has approximately 160 recruits in some form of training, which means that over the next 18 months or so, all of those recruits who are in training are going to be entering into a permanent work status.<\/p>\n

Vanic said vacancies are a nationwide problem and that as interim chief he couldn\u2019t implement widespread policy changes.<\/p>\n

After years of a revolving door of police chiefs, the union is eager for stable leadership.<\/p>\n

Vanic said he will continue to work for HPD and will support whoever becomes the next chief.<\/p>\n

Read more Prominent Hawaii department director steps down amid ongoing bribery probe, sources confirm<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Honolulu Police Commission will select a permanent police chief on Wednesday, and interim chief Rade Vanic says he has no idea why he was passed over again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":351,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nInterim Honolulu police chief Rade Vanic speaks out after being passed over for permanent position - 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=352\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Interim Honolulu police chief Rade Vanic speaks out after being passed over for permanent position - 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