HONOLULU — Just over a month since Mayor Rick Blangiardi announced a $25,000 hiring incentive for Honolulu Police Department recruits, applications to HPD have increased 54%.

Blangiardi announced the incentive during his State of the State address on March 14. It’s the latest and, initially at least, most successful attempt by the city to address chronic staffing issues that have left HPD struggling to provide consistent, adequate coverage to Oahu neighborhood.

As of March 1, some 437 — approximately 20% — of HPD’s 2,177 positions were unfilled, according to the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers.

Two years ago, when vacancies numbered closer to 300, SHOPO held a dramatic news conference in which president Robert Cavaco accused HPD leadership of deliberately turning a blind eye to staffing issues and endangering the public by not properly deploying available officers to make sure every neighborhood is covered.

“HPD’s shortage of sworn officers has been identified as the department’s single most pressing issue,” Blangiardi posted on his official Facebook page. “That’s why we are launching HPD’s most aggressive recruiting initiative since this administration has been in office. We cannot keep our communities safe if we cannot keep police officers on patrol.”

The new incentive payments are staggered into increasing increments attached to advancement milestones. The first $2,500 is paid once a recruit passes an academic comprehensive exam. Upon graduation from the Police Academy, recruits receive $5,000. Another $7,500 is paid when the recruit completes metropolitan police officer probation. The final $10,000 is paid after the officer completes three years of employment.

Michael Tsai covers local and state politics for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at michael.tsai@charter.com.