Chiefess Kapiolani: The greatest student of Batimea Pua’aiki (Blind Bartimeus)
SHOPO leader to Quit: Retires hours after eligible, citing lack of incentives, burnout
HNN: … Another veteran Honolulu police officer is calling it quits right as he hits the 25-year mark.
The announcement by Robert “Bobby” Cavaco highlights the need to retain retirement-eligible officers.
Cavaco said he would have stayed if recent proposed incentives for veteran officers passed the Legislature.
Cavaco is an HPD lieutenant on Oahu’s west side. He is also the president of the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers (SHOPO).
His departure is an example of why the vacancy rate continues to climb at HPD. Every month a handful of veteran officers walk away.
“That’s the going consensus right now. ‘Hey, when I reach 25 (years), I’m out,’” Cavaco said.
HPD has 2,177 uniform positions budgeted. Currently, there are 1,712 officers, which puts the vacancy number at 465.
“I’m predicting we’re going to be at 500 (vacancies) by the end of the year, because I know there’s a bunch of officers that are just waiting,” said Cavaco.
Lawmakers approved bonuses of $25,000 for new recruits, divided over several years, but for veteran officers, there is no new incentive to stay.
A program called DROP, the Deferred Retirement Options Program, died in the Legislature. It would have given officers a pension bonus for staying up to five additional years.….
Read … Police union leader to retire hours after eligible, citing lack of incentives, burnout
Hawaii’s homeless encampment crackdown in line with President Trump’s executive order
HNN: … City and state law enforcement officials cleared several encampments during a sweep of Diamond Head Friday morning.
“We’re thinking a little bit more about enforcing the area that’s very, very dangerous on both sides of Diamond Head,” said Roy Miyahira, city director of homeless solutions.
Miyahira said it’s part of an ongoing effort to ensure public safety and connect the unhoused with services.
“We’re still offering the services like we normally do through our IHS (The Institute for Human Services) partners,” he said. “We’re offering our Honu shelters near Old Stadium, which is a lot closer now. We’ve addressed situations where we know we have pets that are involved. We have availability there at Hale Mauliola.”
Miyahira says fewer people were cited compared to the last sweep three months ago.
“We’re getting some good results as far as cleaning up the crater, and we feel that we’re going to assess it again and see where we go for the next time,” he said.
Such sweeps are in line with President Donald Trump’s new executive order, called “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets.” It’s aimed to get the unhoused into treatment centers for severe mental illness or drug addiction, even without their consent.
Trump says his administration will prioritize funding to cities that crack down on open drug use and street camping.
Both Gov. Josh Green and Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi say the federal funding will help support critical services.
In a statement, Green said, “The state of Hawaii strongly welcomes additional funding to expand access to addiction treatment services and to further support kauhale, my signature initiative offering deeply affordable, recovery‑oriented housing communities. With robust wrap‑around care, kauhale empower individuals to move into stable, healing environments following residential or detox programs. Investing more in treatment pathways and kauhale village development allows Hawaiʻi to strengthen pathways to recovery, reduce recidivism and build stronger communities grounded in ‘ohana and shared responsibility."
Blangiardi said in a statement to HNN, “We have a solid game plan, and this Executive Order reinforces that game plan and hopefully provides additional financial resources that will help us deliver appropriate and potentially life-saving care for our mentally-ill and drug-addicted homeless population.”…
Read … Hawaii’s homeless encampment crackdown in line with President Trump’s executive order
Publisher sues Hawai‘i prisons for censorship
ASD: … According to a lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court by the Human Rights Defense Center — a non-profit organization that advocates on behalf of U.S. prison inmates — state correctional facilities are blocking books and magazines being mailed to inmates in the state.
Paul Wright, executive director of HRDC, told Aloha State Daily that the organization publishes two monthly magazines, “Prison Legal News” and “Criminal Legal News,” which cover news related to the prison system and criminal rights.
“We’ve been publishing for 35 years and we’ve had subscribers in Hawai‘i for probably 34 years,” Wright said. “What happened was we started getting messages from subscribers saying they weren’t getting their magazines.”
The lawsuit alleges that, between April 2024 and July 2025, DCR has returned 56 items mailed by HRDC to Hawai‘i inmates. Many of those items — books, magazines, brochures and other correspondence — were marked as “UNAUTHORIZED MAIL,” and one was marked “CENSORED.” …
Read … Publisher sues Hawai‘i prisons for censorship
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