Honolulu Police Deputy Chief Rade Vanic will serve as interim chief while the police commission searches for outgoing Chief Joe Logan’s permanent replacement, commissioners decided Wednesday. 

Logan announced his retirement at the beginning of the month after receiving pressure from Mayor Rick Blangiardi to step down. Blangiardi recommended Hawaiʻi County Police Chief Ben Moszkowicz to serve as interim.

At their meeting Wednesday, police commissioners heard five-minute speeches from seven of the eight candidates who applied for the interim position before ultimately deciding to give the position to Vanic.

Even though the commission solicited applicants for interim chief, the commissioners decided to simply follow the city charter which says that the highest-ranking deputy will take over in a department head’s absence until a new department head is selected. 

The Honolulu Police Department has two deputy chiefs, Vanic and Keith Horikawa, who also applied for the interim job and said he would likely put in for permanent chief as well.

Vanic told commissioners Wednesday he would also apply for the permanent position. He was a finalist for the chief’s job in 2022 but withdrew during the process.

Honolulu Police Commission Chair Ken Silva said both deputies have the same rank, and commissioners chose Vanic because he previously served as interim chief between 2021 and 2022. 

After hearing from the interim chief applicants, Commissioner Ann Botticelli suggested deferring to the city charter and letting one of the deputy chiefs take over. She said she was concerned that choosing an interim chief who was also a candidate for the permanent position might give them an unfair advantage. 

Commissioner Doug Chin said the commission was under pressure to pick an interim chief quickly, but couldn’t do a thorough job after only hearing from the candidates for five minutes each.

“That was like TikTok videos,” he said.

Commissioner Elizabeth Char said she wanted the commission to turn its attention to hiring a  permanent chief and to do so quickly and thoughtfully. 

“Let’s not spend a whole bunch of time with an interim, let’s focus on seating a new chief,” she said.

The other applicants for interim chief were Moskowicz, former security chief for the state’s Department of Transportation Services Thomas Aiu, Honolulu police Maj. Ryan Hironaka, state Department of Law Enforcement investigator Wayne Ibarra, Honolulu police Assistant Chief Brian Lynch, and Honolulu police Capt. Clifford Ramson. Ramson and Aiu were the only candidates who said they were not interested in pursuing the permanent chief position.

Logan, who said his last day in office will be July 15 although his retirement is effective Aug. 1, would not say who he thinks should replace him as chief. But he said he expects more people to apply, including candidates from the mainland.

After the meeting, Vanic told reporters that he’s focusing on his role as interim chief for the time being. 

“I’m not looking at whether I’m going to apply, right now I’m just focused on getting the job done,” he said. 

He said some of the initiatives he will pursue as interim chief will include developing a plan to give media outlets access to the police department’s radio dispatch communications, as well as participating on a City Council task force aimed at staffing, recruitment and retention. 

Silva said he hopes the commission can pick a new chief in six months. Commissioners plan to use a consulting firm to help with the process, although delays in hiring a consultant were part of what held up the process last time. Commissioners recalled Wednesday that it took the city procurement office about seven months to onboard a search firm and then it took another five months until a chief was selected.

“You want to make sure that you get the best qualified candidates that are out there,” he said. “It seems that that’s the best process.”