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Committee advances gifts to Honolulu Police Department including youth explorer funding
Summary
The committee recommended reporting out three resolutions accepting gifts to the Honolulu Police Department — funding for the LEAP explorer program, travel to a narcotics investigators summit, and seats for an awards breakfast — after a briefing from HPD Major Bobby Towne on program uses and recruitment pathways.
Chair Tolba on Thursday moved that the Committee on Public Safety and Economy report three resolutions accepting gifts to the Honolulu Police Department out for adoption by the council. The items were heard together after Major Bobby Towne of the Honolulu Police Department described how each donation supports the department’s youth recruitment and training pipeline.
Major Bobby Towne said the Law Enforcement Explorer Program (LEAP) is donor‑funded and not covered by the department’s operating budget. "This program we do is not budgeted in our budget…everything we operate is off of this donation," Towne said, adding the gifts pay for shirts, training and equipment and help feed cadet and recruit programs.
The resolutions include Resolution 26‑28, a monetary gift valued at $18,500 to support scholarships, uniforms and equipment for LEAP; Resolution 26‑31, travel and related expenses valued at $1,972.79 from the Washington State Narcotics Investigators Association to send an HPD representative to a WSNIA training summit; and Resolution 26‑44, a gift of seats for HPD personnel and dignitaries from the 200 Club (listed in the agenda as valued at $11,360) to attend a May awards breakfast.
Council members praised LEAP and suggested ways to strengthen recruitment ties between the program and HPD hiring. Councilmember Tupala urged making explorer participation visible on applications so candidates’ experience is recognized; Towne said he would raise that suggestion with the department’s HR division. "We do coordinations now with fire department and EMS also…we do joint young students to go from LEAP to our cadet program and then into our recruit school," Towne said.
Chair Tolba recommended each resolution be reported out for adoption; after hearing no objections he ordered them reported out by the committee. The committee record shows the items were recommended for adoption by unanimous consent; no roll‑call vote was recorded.
Next steps: the resolutions will proceed to the full council for consideration under the council’s normal adoption process.
