Kauaʻi’s efforts to recruit a new chief come as Honolulu and Hawaiʻi island wage their own searches for a new top cop.

Grand jury testimony in a 2023 killing details the power and violence of an organization known as Murder Inc.

Benjamin Moralez, 48, fired multiple rounds from his hotel room and refused to drop his weapon as he approached officers in a hallway, prosecutors said.

Commissioners expect it will still be many months before a new chief is on board.

UPDATED: Hawaiʻi County police commissioners said the chief had lost trust with the community after prematurely submitting his resignation and expressing interest in the Honolulu interim chief job.

On Kauaʻi, job applications for chief of police are down 68% as a department with sinking morale and recruitment and retention issues seeks its next leader.

Honolulu Police Chief Joe Logan attributes the declining crime rate to the work of his officers, but a researcher with the University of Hawaiʻi said it’s likely part of a broader social trend.

One officer was trapped in the burning vehicle, Chief Joe Logan said.

The City Council hasn’t come up with funding yet for the program and research shows cameras alone may not be effective.

With real-time simulations and a high-tech shooting range, the Kauaʻi Police Department hopes to quadruple weapons drills.