Latest / The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi / New HPD Chief David Lazar on leadership, safety on our roads, and staffing
Transcript
- 0:14Welcome to the One O'ahu podcast.
- 0:16I'm your host, Brandi Higa, and today is Thursday, July 30th, 2026.
- 0:21We're sitting down this week with one of the newest members to our City
- 0:24and County of Honolulu Ohana.
- 0:26In the Honolulu Police Department's newest chief of police, Chief David Lazar.
- 0:30Chief, mahalo for making some time for me. Mahalo.
- 0:33Thank you for having me.
- 0:34Before we get into the really tough questions,
- 0:37I want to get to know you, chief.
- 0:38So tell us, where did you grow up?
- 0:40Where did you go to school?
- 0:41Where did your passion for a law enforcement begin all of that?
- 0:44Yes, I I'm so.
- 0:45I'm a fourth generation San Franciscan, born and raised.
- 0:48Spend my whole life there and I my mom really inspired by my mom,
- 0:53who was a 911 dispatcher and she one day said
- 0:58I was an only child raised by the single, by a single mom.
- 1:01And she said, there's some police officers taking kids
- 1:04backpacking to you cemetery kind of as a mentorship program.
- 1:08And she she signed me up for it.
- 1:09And these officers became mentors to me.
- 1:12They were the father that I never had in the household.
- 1:15And it was really exciting for me.
- 1:17I was a young child back then, maybe
- 1:2011 or 12, and these officers
- 1:23inspired me to to be good and to stay out of trouble.
- 1:26And then I just wanted to be like them.
- 1:28And I was led to policing and I was a a cadet, which is our version of explorer.
- 1:33And I was A911 dispatcher like my mom
- 1:36and then in 1991, I was hired by the San Francisco Police Department.
- 1:41And so growing up in the department in San Francisco, tell us was the role
- 1:44that you held right before this?
- 1:45And how do you think that prepared you for the position you're in now?
- 1:48The last three years in the San Francisco Police Department,
- 1:51I was the assistant chief, which is the equivalent
- 1:53of the deputy chief here in Honolulu, where I oversaw operations.
- 1:57So I had about 80% of the department.
- 2:00I was the number two in charge.
- 2:02And that really prepared me for this moment.
- 2:05But really, it wasn't just the last three years, it was the last 33.5 years.
- 2:09And then if you think about my time before that, as a youth in the department and
- 2:13going through all the programs that I now see that we have here in Honolulu,
- 2:17my whole life has prepared me for this moment.
- 2:20Everything that I've done, but especially in policing, having worked all over
- 2:24the department in a similar size city as city and county, a city that's diverse,
- 2:29maybe not surrounded four sides by water, but three sides by water.
- 2:33And I really you know, the mayor talks about this as well.
- 2:36When he talks with me.
- 2:37My best years are ahead of me, not behind me.
- 2:40And the the the heaviest lift
- 2:43is, is happening now as I have entered this new position.
- 2:47Yeah.
- 2:48And you know, you spoke about this in a recent commission meeting.
- 2:51You're already approaching those first 30 days.
- 2:54But what do you think you've been able to accomplish?
- 2:56What are you proud of in those first 30 days?
- 2:58Well, we've been able to do a lot like in the first three weeks.
- 3:01So, you know, a couple of things.
- 3:03We moved around the assistant chiefs, we put them in the right positions.
- 3:07In my opinion, to really be successful as an organization,
- 3:10we I have as a matter of fact, I knew you were going to ask me
- 3:13and I have this huge list really, you know, first starts off
- 3:17with setting a culture that we are going to be a transparent culture.
- 3:20We're going to be accountable to each other within the department
- 3:23and to the public that I'm going to demonstrate leadership,
- 3:27that we're going to make sure that we're doing things fair and equitable
- 3:30within the department and really leading with integrity,
- 3:34making sure that in all that we do, we're having honest dealings
- 3:37and we're making sure that we're doing things the right way.
- 3:40But the other couple of big things that have happened is,
- 3:45you know, my listen, my listen and learn tours have been going very well.
- 3:48Yesterday was my 16th visit and the beginning of my fourth week,
- 3:52where I go all throughout the department speaking with officers,
- 3:56sitting down with them.
- 3:57SHOPO has been right there by my side.
- 3:59As a matter of fact,
- 4:00they they bring dinner in or they bring lunch and so we break bread
- 4:04and then have those conversations about what the officers want to see in me
- 4:09as chief or what the questions they have about the future of our department.
- 4:13I have learned so much from our members.
- 4:15I'm so grateful that I've been able to move forward on that.
- 4:18And there's a whole other list of things as we move forward on technology.
- 4:21As we talk about modernization.
- 4:23I've had, pretty serious conversations about recruitment
- 4:28and the hiring process and where are the bottlenecks and how can we move forward.
- 4:32And so there's a whole list.
- 4:33But my first 30 days, it hasn't even been 30 days.
- 4:37And pretty much that first 30 list is done.
- 4:40And I'm checking away some things in the 60 day column, in the 90 day column.
- 4:45And, we're just getting started.
- 4:47Yeah.
- 4:47You mentioned showboat,
- 4:48and we actually had Mayor Blangiardi on the podcast last week,
- 4:52and he talked about a recent meeting he had with SHOPO.
- 4:55Great reviews. And they love you.
- 4:56You know, you mentioned that you break, but you meet with them often.
- 5:00What's been the collaboration and the relationship, like with HGEA
- 5:03with the civilian unions as well?
- 5:06So today is a day I'm going to be reaching out to, to Randy,
- 5:10the head of, that union,
- 5:12because I want to have the same relationship that I have with ShOPo.
- 5:16And some of the officers are looking at me sideways because they're saying,
- 5:20we can't believe you're getting along so well with shoPo.
- 5:23And my response is, is that good, healthy organizations,
- 5:28the head of the departments get along well with the union.
- 5:31When we I ask the question when we don't, who suffers while the officers do?
- 5:37Because if we can't make forward progress and then who else suffers?
- 5:40Well, it's the community because we're not as efficient as we can be.
- 5:43We're not as good as we can be.
- 5:45So I have really enjoyed my relationship with Joe Paul.
- 5:48They are made up of great people who care about this department.
- 5:52What we have in common is
- 5:53we both care about our officers, and so we want each other to do well.
- 5:58And this is truly the example of how it's supposed to be.
- 6:01And, you know, I've said as time goes on, there may be times
- 6:05where they may not agree or I may not agree,
- 6:08but when you know each other and you have a relationship
- 6:11and you've built trust, it's okay, because we could work it out.
- 6:14We can compromise, we can come to some sort of agreement
- 6:16in a very respectful way.
- 6:18Yeah, but that's juggling a lot.
- 6:19You know, not only do you have to be the chief,
- 6:21so you're the, you know, subject matter expert in tactical training,
- 6:24and you also kind of have to be like this kind of HR type of person.
- 6:27And you have to get along with all the unions.
- 6:29But what's been the hardest part of this position for you so far?
- 6:33You know, you've actually stumped me because nothing's been difficult for me.
- 6:37I've actually enjoyed every moment and I want to be here.
- 6:41I want this job and I've said quite often that I don't have to have this job
- 6:45and I don't need it, but I want it and I want it because I love policing
- 6:49and I love officers and I love the community.
- 6:52It's really where I feel lead and it's where my heart is
- 6:55and there hasn't been any challenge.
- 6:57I have to tell you that everyone has been so gracious,
- 7:02they've been so welcoming, whether it's whether it's the executive staff,
- 7:06the command staff, the officers on the road,
- 7:09the professional staff, the community show Po, the mayor,
- 7:13our commission, the elected officials, everyone has been so great to work with,
- 7:18and I'm confident that it's going to be that way
- 7:21in the months, in the years to come as we work together.
- 7:24And for me, I just have to learn and listen.
- 7:27I have to stay humble.
- 7:28I don't know everything and I'm not the smartest in the room.
- 7:32But when.
- 7:33But I do know how to work with people, and I think that's the key to this position.
- 7:37I think what a lot of folks saw in you that really could help us out
- 7:41is what you've taken from San Francisco, because there's
- 7:44a lot of similarities to major cities with similar issues.
- 7:48San Francisco
- 7:48historically, Florida with the top ten and the number of homeless individuals.
- 7:52That situation has improved dramatically over the last couple of years.
- 7:56But and especially the last, last year's point in time count.
- 7:59But what do you think is working there, and how do you hope to replicate that
- 8:02success here on Oahu?
- 8:05What's
- 8:05working there is that you have specially trained officers
- 8:08who have a heart to help people, help the homeless.
- 8:11Now, it doesn't mean we don't enforce the law
- 8:13of course we hold people accountable.
- 8:15But the key to success is when all the agencies that have a stake
- 8:20in dealing with the homeless population are working well together.
- 8:25One of the things I was able to do back in 2017 is develop the Healthy Streets
- 8:29Operation Center, and that was really setting up
- 8:31like an emergency command post, something you would do for a flood here on Oahu,
- 8:36where all the stakeholders are in the room every day collaborating,
- 8:41making decisions about where we need to be deployed, who
- 8:43we need to help today, who we need to get into, into shelter
- 8:47and that collaboration when we're not in silos works very well.
- 8:52I am pleased to report that that here,
- 8:55under our mayor's leadership, that same collaboration is taking place.
- 8:59I have my we have our weekly meeting regarding the homeless.
- 9:02We're coordinating, we're collaborating.
- 9:04We have to keep at it. We can't let up.
- 9:06We have to help people that need help on the streets.
- 9:08We need to hold them accountable.
- 9:10We need to make sure that we're safe as a community.
- 9:13Yeah.
- 9:14You know, another difficult issue here.
- 9:16it's been a deadly couple weeks on our roadways.
- 9:18Four traffic deaths so far just this month with kids set to go back to school
- 9:22as early as next week. Really?
- 9:24And it's easy to tell people, you know, please slow down, put your devices
- 9:27down, don't text.
- 9:28But it's really hard to influence behavior.
- 9:31So what do we do here when it comes to influencing both drivers and pedestrians?
- 9:36Really, this is a big part of what we do
- 9:39as police officers and as for public safety.
- 9:42So yes, it's there's been 25 fatalities year to date.
- 9:46That's 25 way too many.
- 9:49And we are around the 40s at this point.
- 9:52Last year, way too much.
- 9:54We need to get to zero that have the vision of Vision Zero.
- 9:58We need to be thinking in terms of we're going to have zero fatalities
- 10:01on our island and and push through pretty hard.
- 10:04That is accomplished by what I call the three E's.
- 10:07It's education, it's enforcement and it's engineering.
- 10:11So first, with education, safer roads together, I believe
- 10:15that it's been effective.
- 10:17The people have seen us out there with the community and the signs and all that.
- 10:21We have done a great job to educate the community,
- 10:24social media through our public affairs office, in our schools.
- 10:28When our officers are in schools, we will continue to push hard
- 10:31to remind everyone to slow down and be safe.
- 10:33When we do an analysis, it's mostly speeding.
- 10:36That's what's causing this.
- 10:38And you know you have driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs.
- 10:42Some cases they were following too close.
- 10:45That's also speeding.
- 10:46In other cases it's jaywalking.
- 10:48It's the pedestrian who's not patient who wants to just crossing the road.
- 10:51If you look at Farrington, it's very dark.
- 10:53I came through there the other night from nanakuli and it's pretty dark there.
- 10:57So we have to continue to educate.
- 11:00Enforcement needs to be very specific it's not pulling over someone with a tail
- 11:04light out. It's what are the what are the five.
- 11:07Let's focus on the five causes five violations
- 11:11that are causing these collisions.
- 11:12And let's focus in on enforcing those.
- 11:14And let's be very strategic using data to say where is the high impact corridors?
- 11:19Okay. We're going to enforce in those areas that'll bring it down.
- 11:22And then the third item
- 11:23engineering is working with the Department of Transportation.
- 11:26Do do we need to add lighting.
- 11:28Do we need to add signage.
- 11:30You know when I see some of these crosswalks
- 11:32you should be able to press a button and the crosswalk lights up
- 11:36so that you can cross, especially in those areas that are dark.
- 11:39That's what I noticed Saturday night, traveling through
- 11:41some of the areas up on the west side.
- 11:43Yeah, so we got to get we got to get good and we have to get better.
- 11:45And we as a department have to be laser
- 11:48focused on this issue and be very strategic.
- 11:52Going back to San Francisco,
- 11:53San Francisco saw some, concealed carry laws change a few years back.
- 11:57And I'm not sure if that led to maybe more folks trying to get permits.
- 12:01But with our gun laws changing here on all here in Hawaii,
- 12:05how does that change the posture of the department, or does it?
- 12:08Well, it first of all adds to our workload, and we have a lot going on.
- 12:12And now we have to dedicate, technology.
- 12:14We have to dedicate staffing to go through the permit process.
- 12:18We have to follow the law.
- 12:19We have to be in compliance
- 12:20with what the what the what the courts have requested us to do.
- 12:24And our community has to be safe.
- 12:27And we are issuing gun permits.
- 12:30Not a lot, but they're they're they're they're trickling in every day.
- 12:33And I'm signing these, these documents as they come through.
- 12:37And those that are carrying concealed weapons, they have to be very mindful
- 12:41that it is a very rare circumstances, if any, when that gun
- 12:45comes out of their holster and we as police officers have to be,
- 12:50especially vigilant to that situation, because usually when we encounter people
- 12:54that are armed, we're usually in the mindset that could be
- 12:58someone that is up to no good, and we have to use all our tactics.
- 13:02But society has definitely changed.
- 13:04And I saw it from San Francisco, where
- 13:08for the first 31 years I was in the department,
- 13:11we issued one permit
- 13:13to like a judge or tool, like a general of the army or something.
- 13:17And then all of a sudden the floodgates opened up.
- 13:19So we have to be mindful of that.
- 13:21But we have to follow the law and do do what we're supposed to do.
- 13:24And if the law said donation, we wouldn't issue them.
- 13:27So that's really the situation that we're in.
- 13:29Yeah.
- 13:30You touched on this earlier about recruiting, but next week
- 13:33you welcome some 37 new recruits to your department.
- 13:36Where do we stand in terms
- 13:38of needing more bodies here at HPD, or are we in pretty good shape?
- 13:42We need to be way better shape.
- 13:45We're in okay.
- 13:46Shape, It's okay.
- 13:49Well, I should say it's a little less than okay.
- 13:51It's about a it's about a D plus C minus.
- 13:54Why do you say that?
- 13:55Because we have to make sure
- 13:57that there are enough officers on the road to keep all their officers safe.
- 14:01That is.
- 14:01That's what keeps me up at night.
- 14:03Our our people are our officers safe.
- 14:06And we have to have enough staff.
- 14:07And as I go around the department,
- 14:09the continual theme is we don't have enough people investigating
- 14:12crime or working on, working on the road or on patrol
- 14:17or foot beats or whatever we're trying to do.
- 14:20So before I give a lot of credit to our
- 14:22HR department and our finance department before I got here,
- 14:28the, the team was able
- 14:29to put together 66 recruits that started a week ago.
- 14:33That's the biggest class we've had in 12 years.
- 14:35That's very exciting.
- 14:36And of course, we have 37 that are graduating this Friday.
- 14:40We are still a short in the in the four hundreds
- 14:44so that the staffing is supposed to be 2177.
- 14:49Nobody here can tell me where we got that number from.
- 14:51Yeah, that's how many you need.
- 14:53Yeah, yeah, yeah. No one can tell me.
- 14:56And some people say that that number has existed for a long time.
- 15:00And I sit back and think, wow, that's before all those buildings
- 15:03went up in district one, or that's before a couple A started growing.
- 15:07And I think that number is probably around 2300 now.
- 15:10I'm just guessing as well.
- 15:11We haven't done the data analysis on that.
- 15:14So we have to keep pushing and
- 15:18we are going to do some exciting things to to make that happen.
- 15:21We're going to go on a national search for recruits.
- 15:25Of course we want local.
- 15:26We're going to use technology for the, the process.
- 15:30You know, I I'm, I'm really pushing us to say we should be able to hire in 90 days.
- 15:35And I ask around, anybody here been hired in 90 days?
- 15:39The answer's no.
- 15:40So that's something different.
- 15:41That would that's a goal that we can really push for.
- 15:45And we we need to bring up our numbers.
- 15:47And we have to do it fairly quickly.
- 15:49As some of the very senior people around here tell me,
- 15:52don't forget, chief, it's quality over quantity.
- 15:55It's quality over quantity. We just don't want the numbers.
- 15:58We want qualified people that can come in and do the job.
- 16:01Yeah.
- 16:01The other conversation I'm having with the Academy and others is
- 16:05a 410 schedule, four days a week, ten hours a day
- 16:09for even our recruits in the academy.
- 16:11I think it's I think it's good because if you're going
- 16:14to go to one department or another, well, we at least have the 410 here.
- 16:18It's good for remediation Fridays to try to retain people,
- 16:21and it's good because we're getting people used to shift work.
- 16:24So I'm working on us changing the way we're thinking about some of this stuff.
- 16:29Yeah.
- 16:30And it's so interesting you keep saying, you know, and I met with this person,
- 16:33I met with this person.
- 16:34And, you know, we talked about the unions and you talked about this.
- 16:36Listen and learn.
- 16:37So, so you really go all around the island.
- 16:40I know that, you know, as we record this, we're trying to work around.
- 16:43Your schedule is pretty rigorous.
- 16:45So how do you keep up?
- 16:46I mean, you came into the room with a yogurt.
- 16:48I know that your diet is you.
- 16:49It sounds like you're pretty healthy, but what are you doing? What's the secret?
- 16:52You work out every day or, the stamina must be insane.
- 16:56I used to work out a lot, and now I have this job, so I have.
- 17:00I have to I have to it's work life balance, but it's harmony.
- 17:04Like, I have to
- 17:05balance it out a little bit, you know, because I am married, right?
- 17:0832 years.
- 17:09I have a great marriage, so that's a priority.
- 17:12And the job's a priority and house a priority.
- 17:15But in the last few weeks, I essentially go home, I sleep,
- 17:19I get up, I come back, and, I have a full schedule.
- 17:23I meet with a lot of people.
- 17:24I'm all over the island.
- 17:26This is important as the new chief, especially for those that I have not met.
- 17:31Met yet.
- 17:32Yeah. Coming in from from another place.
- 17:34It's important that I establish those relationships.
- 17:37And so it's exciting.
- 17:38Yeah. It's about a 12, 13 hour day.
- 17:40This I'm on a 9 or 10 day run right now with no days off.
- 17:45But I enjoy it.
- 17:46And this is what I signed up for.
- 17:47And my goodness.
- 17:49All right, chief, while this podcast is about policy
- 17:52issues and current events, it's also meant to help
- 17:55get the public familiar with, the person that you are, the man you are.
- 18:01And so I'm going to have
- 18:02some I'm going to ask you right now
- 18:03some would you rather questions, if that's all right.
- 18:05Sounds great. I don't think I've ever answered any.
- 18:07Would you rather question.
- 18:10Is always a first.
- 18:11So let's go.
- 18:12All right.
- 18:13Chief, if you could only eat one meal for an entire month, the same thing
- 18:18every day, would you rather be stuck with ramen
- 18:22or poke bowls?
- 18:25I'll take ramen because it's very similar to pasta.
- 18:28And I used to be a big pasta person.
- 18:31Okay, I'll take ramen. Me too.
- 18:33Actually, yeah. although poke is good, though.
- 18:36Would you rather be stuck in your patrol vehicle
- 18:40with a mongoose or a centipede
- 18:44or the centipede?
- 18:45I mean, why all mongooses?
- 18:48Are they kind of wild if we're trapped in a car together?
- 18:50Yeah. Why would I want to subject myself to that?
- 18:53Good answer. I can put them in a little box.
- 18:56I could go on with my day.
- 18:57Good answer.
- 18:58All right.
- 18:59You sound like I had the wrong answer. I know I was.
- 19:00Just try to see your why. Okay? Okay.
- 19:02All right.
- 19:03Would you rather make a commitment right now to finish the Honolulu
- 19:07Marathon in December? No time limit or pass.
- 19:10HPD recruit physical readiness assessment every month from now until December.
- 19:16Oh, I'd like to finish the
- 19:18HPD readiness assessment every month and then get ready for the marathon.
- 19:23That would get me ready for the marathon.
- 19:25Yeah, that's true, but, you know, as police officers, we got to be prepared,
- 19:28you know, and whether you have a day in the department or you're the chief,
- 19:33we got to stay. We got to stay ready. So.
- 19:35So yes, it sounds.
- 19:36That sounds exciting.
- 19:37You invited me to that, HPD recruitment readiness assessment.
- 19:41Yeah, well, maybe we'll have to film a video of you doing it.
- 19:44Oh, that'll be a sight to see. What is it?
- 19:45The 1.5 mile pushups, sit ups, 300 meter run in agility.
- 19:49I think you got this. Yeah, yeah.
- 19:51So when you do get your time back, chief,
- 19:53what does what do workouts look like for you?
- 19:55Well, I want to focus in on some cardio.
- 19:58I was just looking about bringing my bike.
- 20:00My bicycle. I need to bring my bicycle over.
- 20:03So I like riding my my bike, I like running,
- 20:07I like swimming, and I like doing a little bit of weightlifting.
- 20:11So I just stay active.
- 20:12And I've been like that my whole life.
- 20:14I just try to stay. Stay active. What do you.
- 20:16Thank you so much for your time. Is there anything that we missed?
- 20:21We covered a lot.
- 20:22And I just want to conclude by telling you how very grateful I am
- 20:26to have been selected as the 13th chief of the Honolulu Police Department.
- 20:30And one of the things
- 20:31I've been saying in the last week or so is I just want to do right by everyone and,
- 20:35want to work hard alongside the great men and women of this department.
- 20:41People on the continent have been asking me, well, how's HPD?
- 20:45And I say, HPD is a great department.
- 20:48And they say, well, why do you say that?
- 20:50And I say, because of the men and women that work here.
- 20:52And people have a big heart and they're committed.
- 20:55They were born and raised here, their families here.
- 20:57They want this island safe.
- 20:59And so I'm proud to work with them.
- 21:01And I'm and I'm thankful and I'm thankful to have the opportunity to,
- 21:06participate in your podcast and share a little bit of my thoughts.
- 21:08So so mahalo for that, chief.
- 21:10Thank you for your time. Yeah. Thank you.
- 21:12And next week we'll dive into those new ideas.
- 21:15Love them or hate them, the Hawaii driver's license and state IDs
- 21:18have a new look.
- 21:19We'll sit down with the director of the city's Department of Customer Services.
- 21:23That's next week right here on the One Oahu Podcast.
- 21:25Mahalo for listening. And until next time, Aloha.