LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i Police Chief Darryl Perry said he has withdrawn his name from consideration to be the Honolulu Police Department’s top cop. “Family comes first,” and a family decision was made to remain on Kaua‘i, Perry said in his
LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i Police Chief Darryl Perry said he has withdrawn his name from consideration to be the Honolulu Police Department’s top cop.
“Family comes first,” and a family decision was made to remain on Kaua‘i, Perry said in his letter to the Honolulu Police Commission charged with selecting a new chief.
The commissioners were expected to receive the letter by Monday afternoon, Perry said in an e-mail Sunday.
“The reason for this decision is because there has been an outcry from the public about my application, but more importantly, my wife and I had a heart-felt talk and she expressed not wanting me to leave Kaua‘i if I was fortunate enough to be offered the position,” Perry said in his letter.
“For over 34 years Solette has been by my side through the good and especially the bad times, and has always been very supportive of my professional career — not asking for anything,” he wrote.
“Because the process is still in its early phases, it is important to make you aware of this decision so as not to waste valuable resources on my behalf,” Perry told the commissioners.
“It was a very difficult decision, but the one thing I have always expressed — to the employees who worked with me at HPD and KPD — is that family comes first,” he wrote. “I would be insincere and hypocritical if I did not practice what I preached, especially for the woman who has sacrificed so much already.”
Also in the letter, Perry outlined some of his accomplishments at KPD (he is entering the final year of a three-year contract that expires in October 2010), including creation of an Internal Affairs Unit and Administrative Review Board, and provisions of “extensive leadership training for senior staff.”
He said in the letter he inherited three years of officer misconduct investigations that had not been acted upon, and that he helped finalize the new island beat geography, implemented a computer-aided dispatch system, and more.
Among his early tasks has been “re-establishing community trust and confidence” and “significantly increasing the morale of our rank and file while decreasing citizen complaints,” he wrote.
“Please note that these benchmarks were accomplished despite a 17-percent vacancy rate, lack of resources (no HR, Finance, IT, and labor specialists), while saving $1.5 million in the 2008-2009 fiscal year budget,” he said.
Earlier, Perry told The Garden Island that he and his wife were having second thoughts about leaving Kaua‘i should he be offered and accept the HPD top-cop slot, and that he had penned a withdrawal letter and given it to his wife to mail if she saw fit to do so.
Perry said a four-hour written examination for qualified candidates for the HPD chief job is scheduled for early October, with in-depth assessment set for early November, and interviews with the Honolulu Police Commission in mid-November.
“Mahalo for your support and I pray that the right candidate will be selected to lead, what I consider, the finest police department in the state of Hawai‘i, if not the nation,” his letter concluded.
Perry spent 24 years with HPD, and was one of three finalists for the KPD top job in 2004, when the Kaua‘i County Police Commission chose interim chief K.C. Lum for the permanent chief’s position.
“Time to roll up the sleeves,” Perry said in his Sunday e-mail.
• Paul C. Curtis, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or pcurtis@kauaipubco.com
