{"id":483,"date":"2026-05-23T05:05:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T05:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=483"},"modified":"2026-05-23T05:05:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T05:05:11","slug":"passed-over-for-hpd-chief-mike-lambert-says-hes-ready-to-return-as-beat-cop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=483","title":{"rendered":"Passed over for HPD chief, Mike Lambert says he\u2019s ready to return as beat cop"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – In his first interview since the Honolulu Police Commission passed him over for Honolulu police chief, Mike Lambert says he\u2019s ready to be a beat cop again.<\/p>\n

Read more Oahu sees rise in family homelessness despite overall drop in unsheltered population<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to thank the media for coming and giving an opportunity for me to thank everyone that supported me through the process,\u201d Lambert said.<\/p>\n

As one of the three finalists for Honolulu\u2019s next police chief, the state Department of Law Enforcement director and former police major was the only one who rose through the ranks at HPD.<\/p>\n

Lambert was supported by Gov. Josh Green, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi, and members of the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers. One lawmaker even held a press conference to protest the decision.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

But Lambert says he wasn\u2019t surprised.<\/p>\n

MORE: <\/b>Leaders react to selection of David Lazar as Honolulu police chief<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2018Not shocked\u2019 but \u2018slightly offended\u2019<\/h1>\n

\u201cI do know that they do think independently and they have their own ways of judging,\u201d Lambert said. \u201cI was a little concerned and I think there was a little hurt from the officers that there wasn\u2019t an acknowledgement of their feelings on it, but not shocked at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lambert said the commission was looking for a specific individual through a specific lens.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t gone to some of the national schools, the two- or three-week management schools, and I was slightly offended by that because for the things that I\u2019ve done for this community, there\u2019s no school for it,\u201d Lambert said. \u201cThere\u2019s no school on how to eradicate illegal game rooms here in Honolulu.\u201d<\/p>\n

The commission says they were looking for change. HPD\u2019s last outside chief was in 1932, and the commission\u2019s pick, David Lazar, says he wants to be the last.<\/p>\n

No to deputy chief, for now<\/h1>\n

Lambert said he would not accept a position as deputy chief if future chief Lazar offers it.<\/p>\n

Read more Animal advocates push for pet breeding regulations on Maui<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cNo, because it wouldn\u2019t be fair to him or I. To me, I think that the deputy chief has to be in absolute alignment and be willing to defend the character of the chief as well as the vision of the chief and I\u2019m just getting to know him,\u201d Lambert said.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

But down the road, Lambert said he would accept the job if he believes in Lazar\u2019s vision and what he\u2019s doing.<\/p>\n

\u2018A lot of our officers are emotional\u2019<\/h1>\n

Lambert said it\u2019s hard to say if officers will continue to leave HPD when Chief Lazar comes in.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really hard to say because right now a lot of our officers are emotional. I would ask them to give him a chance, but I think that there\u2019s a lot of officers that are not, or there\u2019s a concern with some of the policies that San Francisco had,\u201d said Lambert.<\/p>\n

He included Lazar\u2019s political stances no cash bail and never working with ICE. <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s very important for him to explain his stance,\u201d Lambert said.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m ready\u2019 to return to HPD<\/h1>\n

At 46 years old, Lambert has already applied at HPD to become an officer. He says he\u2019s ready to take the physical test, which includes running 1.5 miles within 17 minutes, 30 pushups and 30 sit-ups. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m ready. You know, I\u2019m ready,\u201d Lambert said. \u201cI\u2019m a little bit of a showboat. I want to do well.\u201d<\/p>\n

His last day with the state hasn\u2019t been set yet, and he needs five more years with HPD to reach full retirement, which includes $20,000 more per year in pension.<\/p>\n

Lambert has applied twice to be chief and instead wants to focus on becoming officer of the year.<\/p>\n

Read more Former Tripler gynecologist accused of abusing patients faces new charges, allegations<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The state Department of Law Enforcement director has already applied to become an officer, and says he wouldn\u2019t take a deputy chief role, at least for now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":482,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nPassed over for HPD chief, Mike Lambert says he\u2019s ready to return as beat cop - 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=483\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Passed over for HPD chief, Mike Lambert says he\u2019s ready to return as beat cop - Hawaii Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The state Department of Law Enforcement director has already applied to become an officer, and says he wouldn\u2019t take a deputy chief role, at least for now.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=483\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hawaii Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-23T05:05:11+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=483#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=483\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0\"},\"headline\":\"Passed over for HPD chief, Mike Lambert says he\u2019s ready to return as beat cop\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-23T05:05:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=483\"},\"wordCount\":668,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=483#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b4458cdb27973378d1ee9d65e5bb5736.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=483#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=483\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=483\",\"name\":\"Passed over for HPD chief, Mike Lambert says he\u2019s ready to return as beat cop - Hawaii Moving Insider\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=483#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=483#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b4458cdb27973378d1ee9d65e5bb5736.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-23T05:05:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=483#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=483\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=483#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b4458cdb27973378d1ee9d65e5bb5736.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b4458cdb27973378d1ee9d65e5bb5736.avif\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=483#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Passed over for HPD chief, Mike Lambert says he\u2019s ready to return as beat cop\"}]},{\"@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":"Passed over for HPD chief, Mike Lambert says he\u2019s ready to return as beat cop - 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=483","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Passed over for HPD chief, Mike Lambert says he\u2019s ready to return as beat cop - Hawaii Moving Insider","og_description":"The state Department of Law Enforcement director has already applied to become an officer, and says he wouldn\u2019t take a deputy chief role, at least for now.","og_url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=483","og_site_name":"Hawaii Moving Insider","article_published_time":"2026-05-23T05:05:11+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=483#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=483"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0"},"headline":"Passed over for HPD chief, Mike Lambert says he\u2019s ready to return as beat cop","datePublished":"2026-05-23T05:05:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=483"},"wordCount":668,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=483#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b4458cdb27973378d1ee9d65e5bb5736.avif","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=483#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=483","url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=483","name":"Passed over for HPD chief, Mike Lambert says he\u2019s ready to return as beat cop - Hawaii Moving Insider","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=483#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=483#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b4458cdb27973378d1ee9d65e5bb5736.avif","datePublished":"2026-05-23T05:05:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=483#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=483"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=483#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b4458cdb27973378d1ee9d65e5bb5736.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b4458cdb27973378d1ee9d65e5bb5736.avif","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=483#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Passed over for HPD chief, Mike Lambert says he\u2019s ready to return as beat cop"}]},{"@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\/483","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=483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}