For years, Sharmaine Taua and her husband Robert have been asking Honolulu police for help with vandalism and trespassing at their house on the Westside — broken fence posts, monkeying around with their security cameras, apparent tampering with their SUV.

The response, they said, has been inadequate. Officers told them to add more lights and disconnect their security cameras from the internet. 

What the Tauas want is more police officers on patrol. They thought that would happen when the city moved to replace the Waiʻanae police substation, a move that officials said would be tied to an increase in police assigned to the area.

But nearly nine years after the new station opened in 2016, it sits half-finished, with just a few police department employees. The Tauas said police aren’t any more responsive than before, and they’re still bedeviled by the vandalism and trespassing. 

To Sharmaine Taua, the unfinished station symbolizes how local government has treated the community. Because “we’re a disadvantaged community, it’s easy for Waiʻanae to always be overlooked,” Taua said. “It’s like, there you go, just dissing us again.”

The city is now planning to resume construction. But even when it’s done, the area may not see more officers.

‘What’s The Holdup?’

In 2016, officials held a blessing and dedication ceremony to celebrate the opening of the new substation. It was bigger than the previous one, with more than four times as many holding cells and space for detectives and specialized units. 

But the fanfare was premature: The station wasn’t complete. The city had put more than $16 million into a building that was unfinished and remains that way.

The building is in use today. The first floor has interview rooms and a desk where members of the public can speak with an officer. But the second floor is still essentially one big, empty room, with cardboard boxes stacked on the concrete floor and one visible electrical outlet. There are no desks, no computers, nothing to indicate officers are using the space.

It’s a far cry from the original proposal, which called for two interrogation rooms on the second floor, plus space for officers specializing in community policing and certain types of investigations.

Though city officials originally promised the building would be home to 30-some employees per shift, the building didn’t have the equipment to let officers work effectively. For years, there wasn’t a fingerprint scanner, so for most arrests officers had to drive to the district station in Kapolei — more than an hour away with traffic. It wasn’t until March 2024 that officers were able to process arrestees at the station in Waiʻanae, according to HPD spokesperson Michelle Yu.

These days, a desk supervisor is there around the clock, and officers and sergeants from Waiʻanae and Nānākuli cycle through to file reports, Yu said. Though the department looks forward to having a finished station, she said even in its current state the station helps officers do their jobs.

“This results in more time spent in the community and increased visibility,” she said.

It’s not clear why the building was opened before it was finished. Nor have lawmakers been told exactly what’s behind the delays since then, said Samantha DeCorte, a state senator representing District 22, which covers Ko Olina, Nānākuli, Māʻili, Waiʻanae, Mākaha and Mākua. 

“There’s no justifiable reason,” said DeCorte, who introduced a resolution this legislative session urging the city to finish the job. “What’s the holdup? The only thing that I can think of is, it’s just not a priority.”

In 2023, the City and County of Honolulu allocated money in the following year’s budget to finish the station. The project, estimated to cost nearly $1.7 million, has now been put out for bids. But the city has estimated that it could take a year to get permits, plus four months for construction.

More Police At The Station, But Not On The Street

When the city first took on the task of renovating the Waiʻanae station, it was part of a broader plan to create a new police district and bring more officers to a long-neglected side of Oʻahu. 

Community members and elected officials have complained about crime in the area for years. From 2022 to 2024, the number of murder and non-negligent manslaughter cases doubled in District 8, which encompasses Kapolei, ʻEwa, Makakilo, Nānākuli, Waiʻanae and Mākaha. More than a third of homicides in Oʻahu last year were in District 8. 

But Police Chief Joe Logan said the number of officers on patrol won’t necessarily change when the station is done.

“Just because there’s a new station — there’s always been a station — (that) doesn’t mean that they get any more officers. They get officers to man the station,” Logan said. “But it won’t add to the beat officers.” 

HPD officials did not answer questions about how many officers will work out of the station when it’s finished.

HPD faces a severe staffing shortage. As of March 1, there were 455 uniformed posts vacant across the island, about a fifth of the force, according to the police department. In District 8 alone, more than 60 positions were open, including patrol officers, supervisors and detectives.

That shortage mutes the impact of a fully-fledged station, said Dustin DeRollo, a spokesperson for the police union. 

“Having a finished station is nice, but having it filled is much better,” he said. “That building comes online, there’s no new officers to fill positions there. So you’re really talking about shuffling resources from one side to the other.” 

Residents and elected officials have called for more police on the Westside. Last summer, HPD announced several increases in officers, but those efforts were short-lived and the impact is unclear.

DeCorte said staffing issues have been used to justify the lack of urgency to get the Waiʻanae station up and running. She disagrees with that rationale. 

“That objection has been posed to me many times: ‘Well, we’re lacking officers, we’re not going to be able to man it anyway.’ And that, to me, is irrelevant,” she said. “You have to complete the station. Manning it will be the next step.”