One of Hawaiʻi’s top law enforcement officials will step down this summer with plans to return to the Honolulu Police Department to preserve parts of a pension he built up over more than two decades of service as an officer. 

Mike Lambert, who was appointed to serve as director of the Department of Law Enforcement last January, said the way the state’s retirement system is set up he would forfeit about $20,000 per year in benefits if he stayed with the state. He needs to serve five more years with HPD to earn full benefits in retirement. 

It was an issue he said he was aware of when he took the state job last year but had hoped the Legislature would fix. 

That hope, though, was dashed late last month with the death of House Bill 2358. The bill would have amended the retirement system to allow him to keep the full benefits he earned as an officer in addition to what he would have earned staying on as state law enforcement director. 

“My intent was to retire with the DLE had the bill passed,” he said. “But because that’s not an immediate opportunity for me, I need to go back.”

Lambert’s move, though, will leave the Department of Law Enforcement without a leader for the second time in the three years since its creation in 2023. The agency, which was formed after the dissolution of the Department of Public Safety, has jurisdiction over state facilities like airports, shipping ports, state lands and courthouses.

Lambert’s departure also raises questions about the future of initiatives Lambert set in motion, such as heavier crackdowns on illegal fireworks and the implementation of new police surveillance technology. 

“I definitely, as labor chair, don’t want to see further turnover in state government as is since we are already short-staffed in all departments,” said Rep. Jackson Sayama, chair of the House Labor Committee, who introduced the bill addressing the retirement issue at Lambert’s request. 

“But, you know, Mike Lambert I feel like has done a great job in DLE, so it’s really unfortunate to hear him say he’s not willing to stay on for this reason.” 

Gov. Josh Green said in a statement he was disappointed the bill did not get a hearing. It effectively died when it wasn’t scheduled for a hearing in the Senate Labor and Technology Committee. Sen. Brandon Elefante, who chairs that committee, did not respond to a request for comment. 

“It was disappointing to see Senator Elefante choose to not even hear a bill this important to our state’s security,” Green’s statement says. “At this point in the legislature, his job is to work on solutions and refusing to work with his colleagues in the Senate and counterparts in the House, says a lot about what he values for his community and the people of Hawaii.”

Lambert had hoped to continue serving with DLE, he said, but his decision to leave is strictly financial. He said he has applied to be police chief in Honolulu, but if he doesn’t get the position, hopes to still return to the department as an officer, which will allow him to make his retirement whole. Department policy allows former officers to return within two years without having to redo all of their training. 

“I always play hard for the team I’m on,” Lambert said. “Although this opportunity has closed, the Honolulu Police Department has always been my first love, and going back and possibly having the opportunity to lead them is a very exciting alternate to my plans.” 

Lambert is recommending his deputy director Jared Redulla to take his place.

The new vacancy comes at a time of high turnover in law enforcement agencies statewide. Honolulu has been without a police chief for nearly a year, and departments on Hawaiʻi island and Kauaʻi hired new chiefs within the last four months. 

Lambert said he expects to step down in late June or early July.

Retirement Issue

Lambert said he raised concerns about the retirement issue when he was tapped to become DLE director in 2025. 

At the time, though, legislators were already working on a bill to address it. House Bill 1183, which was introduced last session, would have re-classed certain law enforcement administrative positions, including DLE director, so that they would not have to sacrifice the pension rate they earned as police officers. The bill died last session and was carried over to this year’s session. HB2358 was also introduced this year.

Certain public safety officials, including police officers and firefighters, earn one of the highest pension rates of any employee in the state. Those who started before 2012 earn 2.5% of their annual salaries toward their pension for each year of service. General employees earn 2% or less. Judges who started before 2012 earn 3.5%.

But to keep that 2.5% rate, public safety employees must serve their last five years in an eligible position. The problem for Lambert, who served 21 years with the Honolulu Police Department before moving to the Department of Law Enforcement, was if he retired with the state, his rate would be knocked down to 2% for all of his years of service. 

The bill would have allowed his benefits to be bifurcated so that he could have preserved the 2.5% rate on his years of service as a police officer and earned 2% for each of his final years as director. 

The bill drew criticism, though, for being too narrowly focused on Lambert’s specific case, Sayama said. 

It also faced heavy opposition from the Hawaiʻi Employees’ Retirement System, which feared it would violate IRS rules and risk the tax-exempt status of the state’s entire pension system.

Lambert said he knew when he took the position at DLE that there was a chance the issue wouldn’t be resolved within two years. It was a risk he was willing to take, and other administrators in the department were aware.

He also said the bill would not only have benefited him but any public safety official wanting to move from the county to a state administrative office, such as Honolulu firefighters moving on to become state fire marshal. 

Despite the bill not being passed in time to benefit him, Lambert said it’s still something he plans to push for, along with higher pay for deputy sheriffs, who make about $20,000 per year less than county cops. A bill that would have implemented bonuses for state law enforcement also died this session. 

“In whatever form I’m in at HPD, I will still advocate for these guys,” he said. “I witnessed firsthand their commitment to the community and public safety, and they really do deserve to get paid better.”

Turbulent Years For New Agency

The Department of Law Enforcement got off to a rocky start after it was formed. Multiple employees were placed on leave or arrested in connection to a racial harassment scandal in 2024, before Lambert took over.

Three sheriffs were placed on leave in June of that year after a Black deputy sheriff in training said he was racially harassed by co-workers during shift briefings. Five other sheriffs at the time were on leave pending separate investigations. 

Three deputies would later be arrested in connection with the harassment issue. Their cases were sent to the Attorney General’s Office but prosecutors declined to file charges.

Jordan Lowe, the department’s first director, resigned months later, in January 2025. Lambert assumed the role shortly after. 

Lambert listed some of his accomplishments in a memo sent to employees Wednesday, including creating a drone team, increasing the use of technology in law enforcement, reducing complaints of employee misconduct and increasing the seizure of illegal fireworks. 

He said in an interview he expected those initiatives to continue after his departure. 

Green’s spokeswoman Makana McClellan said in a statement the governor was pleased with Lambert’s accomplishments during his tenure. 

She said Lambert’s transition away from the department was due to a “structural barrier” rather than instability within the department. The governor’s office “strongly supported” bills to fix the retirement issue over two sessions, but ultimately the Legislature decided not to advance the measures. 

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misstated the highest pension earners in the state.