Program to keep veteran police officers in limbo after legislation dies
Measures to keep retirement-eligible officers on the job longer did not get far with lawmakers despite strong support from county and union leaders.
Bills introduced in the Senate and House would have allowed for DROP, the Deferred Retirement Options Program, to incentivize police officers to stay past the 25-year mark. “This was an idea to stop the bleeding now,” DeRollo said.DeRollo said keeping veteran officers on the force is crucial to ease the staffing shortage because recruiting isn’t enough.
But both bills died within three weeks. “We’re pleased that we got 34 votes of support in the Senate,” said Dustin DeRollo, spokesman for the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers (SHOPO).