This is what Hawaiʻi County public safety departments proposed for their new budgets

During the ongoing review this week of Mayor Kimo Alameda’s proposed 2026-27 fiscal year budget of nearly $1 billion, the Hawai‘i County Council on Wednesday heard presentations from the public safety departments.

Starting with the Hawai‘i Police Department, Chief Reed Mahuna outlined his proposed annual budget of $97.1 million, with approximately 76% of it covering salaries and wages of the 664 positions. There are 70 sworn vacancies and 35 civilian vacancies.

Mahuna told the council he already has moved forward with the creation of a task force that will focus on recruitment.

“We must never take our eye off the ball there,” he said.

Mahuna highlighted milestones in 2026 that included the construction of the more than 17,000-square-foot emergency call center in HIlo and a new counselor that services personnel within the police and fire departments.

Moving into 2027, Mahuna intends to form a cybercrime unit.

Mahuna also talked about Capital Improvements projects. He said painting of the Hilo police station for the first time in 28 years is out for bid.

He touched on the ongoing discussion of building the Kea‘au Police and Fire Station, which would be critical for Pāhoa, one of the fastest growing areas in the state.

Hawai‘i County Council Member Ashley Kierkiewicz asked about dangerous dogs and what collaboration has been done between the police department and animal control to fill in the gaps.

Dangerous dogs have been a concern for several years in some of the more rural districts. The issue was brought to the forefront when 71-year-old Robert Northrop was mauled to death by a pack of dogs in 2023 while walking in Ocean View.

Mahuna said officers assist on the criminal side when calls come in about aggressive dogs, but they are not trained to deal with the dogs themselves.

Mahuna said there are a lot of complaints of roaming and aggressive dogs that haven’t attacked yet, but still have people feeling unsafe to walk on their streets.

The goal is to eventually be less reactive to these situations, Mahuna said.

Hawai‘i County Prosecuting Attorney Kelden Waltjen presented his budget to the council saying his office has a proposed status quo budget of a little more than $16 million, of which $3 million comes from grants.

The department has 135 positions, with 16 vacancies and three unfunded positions.

In fiscal year 2025, Waltjen said nearly 27,000 charges were referred to his office, of which nearly 20,000 were accepted for prosecution.

More than 3,100 charges were filed in circuit court. These are felony offenses and jury demands, Waltjen said.

In District Court, which includes traffic citations, misdemeanors and other lower-level criminal offenses, the prosecuting attorney’s office filed nearly 16,000 charges And nearly 700 charges were filed in family court.

Waltjen is active in the State Legislature, where he provides testimony and helps write legislation related to public safety and justice. This year, he has testified against measures aimed at establishing additional protections and rights for the criminally accused, including allowing officers to issue citations instead of arrest, among other changes.

Looking at the upcoming fiscal year, Waltjen said his department’s number one objective is maintaining specialized units that work with law enforcement. This includes team leaders that have expertise in domestic violence, sex assault, traffic safety, unsolved homicides, appellate and post-conviction relief, narcotics, legislative, and most recently, cyber crimes.

Waltjen said he’s also working with the Hawai‘i State Judiciary, county and State Bar Associations in advocating for Wi-Fi in the courtrooms.

Currently, Waltjen explained that his staff uses Wi-Fi hotspots on their phone to gain access to the Internet.

Interim administrator Charyse Emmons gave a budget presentation on the county’s newest department, the Animal Control and Protection Agency, which was created in 2023.

Emmons presented a proposed status quo budget of about $4.4 million, of which 70% goes toward salaries and wages. The department has 48 positions with 16 vacancies.

In fiscal year 2025, Emmons told the council the agency had a total of 3,303 calls for field service, of which 148 calls were for vicious dogs of which 90% were responded to within two hours. They also responded to calls about loose dogs, injured animals, and cruelty and neglect cases.

“We have provided spay and neuter services for over 500 animals, including dogs, cats, and guinea pigs, and we’re going to continue to increase those spay and neuter numbers as well,” Emmons said.

She said the priorities for fiscal year 2027 include filling the vacant positions.

“We’re a very small department, so we need every single position filled, to revise and improve our standard operating procedures, to develop an official animal control and protection officer training program, to continue to improve our response times to requests for services, and to continue increasing our access to veterinary services,” Emmons said.

Animal control has two facilities, one in Kona and another in Hilo, where they have brought in nearly 2,800 animals so far this year, Emmons told the council.

“And at any time, we have between 100 and 200 animals in our care between the two facilities, and that runs the gamut of not just dogs and cats, but guinea pigs, tortoises, turtles, sheep,” Emmons said. “If people find it, and especially if it’s injured or sick, we’re gonna get it.”

The agency is looking to expand its facility in Kea‘au because it is usually is full.

“We just need more kennels, and we need different kennels as well because we have some dogs who are available to be transferred out for adoption, and we have some dogs that are case animals, and they can’t be in the same areas as our available dogs,” Emmons said.

Council Member Matt Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder encouraged Emmons to work with finance to get what the agency needs to accommodate the animals they take in.

“If putting a million dollars into a facility means one person didn’t die from a dog attack, you did your job,” Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder said.

The Hawai‘i Fire Department presented its proposed budget of $87.5 million.  Among the department’s goals for the coming fiscal year include repurposing the Central Fire Station as a functioning training facility or a Fire Prevention and Logistics Center as well as working with the mayor’s office to finalize the design and construction of the new Kea‘au Fire/Police Station.

The council will hear budget presentations from the following departments on Thursday:

• Department of Environmental Management
• Department of Parks and Recreation
• Office of Aging
• Office of the County Auditor
• Office of the County Clerk; Elections Division
• Mass Transit Agency