Overtime payouts have recently blown up at the Honolulu Police Department, with one retired sergeant, Darren Cachola, collecting a stunning 2,400 hours of overtime last year, raising eyebrows and sparking an investigation. According to Hawaii News Now, Cachola's total earnings exceeded $370,000 for fiscal year 2025, with over $236,000 coming from overtime alone. His overtime peak hit in April, when he bagged $28,181.17 in overtime within just that month. The probe into his overtime claims intensified following allegations that Cachola used a superior's computer login to approve his own overtime hours.
However, the issue extends beyond just one officer. A report from Civil Beat unearthed that 125 HPD officers logged over 1,000 hours of overtime each, revealing a near 500% increase since a city audit disclosed rampant overtime three years prior. Interim Chief Rade Vanic expressed concerns regarding the necessity and approval of these hours, which will be further discussed in an upcoming Honolulu Police Commission meeting. Officers are racking up so much overtime that some have doubled their base salaries; and while that can lift the burden on staffing vacancies, it also raises issues about department policies and overtime use, as claimed by HPD.
Ken Silva, chair of the Honolulu Police Commission, emphasized in a conversation with Civil Beat that "people should earn overtime," but stressed that it must follow department rules, which are designed to distribute extra pay equitably among officers. The commission plans to question HPD on how it manages potential abuses like pension spiking, where officers inflate their earnings in years close to retirement to bump their pensions. The practice persists among those hired before 2012, like Cachola, who could potentially rake in more than $200,000 a year post-retirement.
With HPD currently dealing with more than 450 officer vacancies and high violence areas such as District 8 experiencing a surge in overtime—more than 115,000 hours from July 2024 to June 2025 alone—Vanic admitted to Civil Beat that "an individual officer racking up a high number of overtime hours isn’t in itself an indicator that they’re abusing the system." Meanwhile, the commission, under Silva's perception, isn't directly responsible for monitoring the fair operation of the overtime system. Cases of disciplined officers for overtime misuse are rare, though at least six have faced consequences since 2011 for falsifying records or authorizing excessive hours, as per the Honolulu Police Misconduct Database.
As this story unfolds, the question of accountability hovers over the HPD. Liam Chinn of the Reimagining Public Safety in Hawai'i Coalition called out the police commission for its reactive stance, allowing excessive overtime to proceed without substantial oversight. With a further audit possible next year, the Honolulu Police Commission and HPD face the challenge of reconciling necessary staffing measures with fiscal responsibility and the prevention of overtime abuse.
