 Hi, I'm Rusty Komori, and this is Beyond the Lines. We are broadcasting live from the beautiful Think Tech Hawaii TV studio in the Pioneer Plaza in downtown Honolulu. This show is based on my book, also titled Beyond the Lines, and it's about leadership, creating a superior culture of excellence and building winning teams. My special guest today was the Chief of Police of our Honolulu Police Department from 1998 to 2004, and he served as a police officer for a total of 40 years. He is Chief Lee Donahue, and today we are going beyond law enforcement. Hey Chief Lee, great to see you. Well, thanks for having me on the show. Well, welcome to the show. It's an honor having you here. Now I want to know Chief, when you were a young boy, did you always want to be a police officer? There were two professions I really wanted to be in. One was a pilot, and the other one was to be a police officer. Wow, yeah, me too. When I was really young, I wanted to be a pilot. Police, I think it was just too dangerous for me. What ethnicity are you? I'm half Korean and half Irish. So your mom is from Korea? My mom was a picture-bride, and she came to Hawaii in, I think, 1918. And I got married to her first husband. And then they were living in the Palama area, and she had four children. And then her husband passed away unexpectedly. So then she opened a store, and that's when she went by dad. Oh, OK. Now Chief, what schools did you attend? Oh, yeah. I first went to Waikiki Elementary, and it was adjacent to where Thomas Jefferson is now. And then from there I went to Lincoln School, because in those days you had an English standard system. So if you wanted to go up to an English standard high school, which would have been Roosevelt, you'd have to get into the system. So I went to Lincoln, which was in the system. So from Lincoln you go to Stevenson, and then to Roosevelt. And that was the English standard system. And so I went to Lincoln. And in the fifth grade, my mom felt I needed a male role model. She and my dad have already been divorced. So they shipped me to live with my older sister and her husband. His name was Glenn Kaisoji. He was a Japanese-American, born and raised in California, Los Angeles. Couldn't have asked for a better role model. He was interned in Cam Manzanar, and he had a hard life. But I think what it was good about it, he had a gardening route. And that's how he supported his family. And he had three children, of course, married to my sister. But I used to go with him to help him on his route. And I learned a lot. He taught me how to fish. He taught me how to do a lot of things. I couldn't ask for a better role model. And when I was about 14, I came back to Honolulu. And I went to Washington Intermediate, then St. Louis, and then back to McKinley. And I finished up at McKinley High School. Great. And what college did you go to? I went to Shamnaud University. Nice. I graduated from there. So Chief, you and your wife, Lucy, how did you guys meet? We met in church, St. Luke's Church, up there on Judge Street. So she and her twin sister went to the church also. And my cousin and I would sit behind them. And when you kneel down to pray, we would be tickling their feet because the feet were coming back. But that's how we met. I like hearing that, tickling the feet. So Chief, tell me about your family. My family is, of course, my mother from Korea. And she came here as a picture bride and raised the first family. And then I came along. And then my dad was funny because he was orphaned. My grandparents, his parents passed away within a week of each other. And the influenza that was going out throughout the country at that time. So when he came of age, he joined the Navy. That shipped out to Pearl Harbor. And then he took his discharge there. I was working at Pearl Harbor. And then I guess I don't know why you're shopping down by my mother's store, but he met my mom. Wow. All things happen for you. I like hearing those things about family. Now, Chief, a lot of people know that you are into karate. But not everybody knows that you're a 10th degree black belt in karate. How did that all start? Well, when I was 14, I was involved with jujitsu. OK. And then when I went into the police force, I joined the police judo team. And then there was a shooting up on Polly Highway. Polly and our leader was wounded. And I was getting transferred off to Pearl City. So when I went out there, I had a friend that was teaching karate. He was also a police officer, and probably one of my best friends. And he became my instructor and started from there. Now, 10th degree black belt, that's the highest? Yes. So impressive. A lot of years. Well, I need you to be my bodyguard. Now, Chief, let's talk about your amazing journey in law enforcement. How did that part begin with you? Well, like I said, when I was young, I wanted to be the pilot or a police officer. And after graduation from high school, I got married and I was working in construction. But then the time came that you could apply for the police department. You had to be 21. I applied for two departments. One was the Los Angeles Police Department and Honolulu. And I passed both tests. I had to decide which department I wanted to join. So I asked Lucy, are you willing to go to Los Angeles? Because I thought, living in Los Angeles before, I thought it'd be neat going back as a police officer. And she said, no, I want to stay in Hawaii. So we stayed in Hawaii. So Lucy made the decision. She did. Now, as you were rising through the ranks as a police officer, how was that experience for you? You know, it was a great experience. I can tell you that I had just bought a house. We were living in Pacific Palisades. And we had three children at that time. And we were getting paid a total of $466 a month. I don't know how we did it. I got to give credit to Lucy. She handled the monies. We struggled. But that was a tough time. And at one point, I wanted to quit. I wanted to go back to construction because I knew the money was good there. And then I decided, don't just stick it out. In fact, my first year of my period, I never forgot it. My paycheck was a dollar less than the previous paycheck. Really? Well, pay raise, everything went to taxes. Wow. So anyway, I just stuck it out. And then things started to improve. I got to work special duty a lot. And thank God for special duty. I know the police officers today depend on it also. Yeah, the overtime. Yeah, well, you make some extra money. And if it wasn't for that, I don't know how we'd survive. But then we moved on. And then things got better financially in the police department. And then I just kept going up. I never thought I'd be a sergeant. Wow. I just thought, those sergeants were like gods. You go to work. And they say, we have enough guys. You go home. And they send you home on count time. And you had no say about it. So anyway, it was good coming up. I had a good experience. And I had good leaders. So chief, you became chief of police in 1998. Why were you so successful as the chief during that time? I think it was my philosophy of being collaborative in my leadership. Making sure that everything the officers needed, not wanted, but needed. And of course, they want a lot of things, but you can't give them everything. But whatever they needed, we tried to give to them so that they would see that the upper administration was really trying to support them. And along the same lines to build a bridge between the community and the police department. And so that was I think the biggest thing that we could do. And one of the biggest things that I achieved as chief was to bring in accreditation of the department, which took us three years. And one of the biggest things that I remembered was, I mean, safety was a big issue that you really wanted to address. Right. And so one of the first things we did along those lines of safety was to bring in the bulletproof vests. So the question was, do they have to? It was a mandatory to wear when you're on duty. And I had to make that decision. And I know it was unpopular, but I said, you have to wear it. You have to wear it when you're on duty. And lo and behold, three weeks after that decision, there was an officer walking up to a domestic dispute. I came out of the door, shot the officer right in the chest. But because he had his vest, he survived the shooting. So I knew I made the right decision. Of course, yeah. Now, you also started the Kickstart Karate Foundation or Association. Tell me about how that all started. Back in the early 1980s, chief Magnafamora sent me to Japan to learn about the Koban system. Koban system is a system used by the Japanese police where they have what they call police boxes strategically placed throughout the city. And they have a light over the station. So if you see the light, you can go and get help there. So we were sent to study that. And the Japanese had done their research on me. And they knew that I was involved in martial arts. So every station that I went to, they took me to the dojo, and they would put on a demonstration. But I learned there that the police officers, to be a police officer in Japan, to graduate from the academy, you have to have your black belt in either Judo or Kendo by the time you graduate. So with that, when they get assigned to their different stations, they would invite the kids in from the community to learn Judo or Kendo. And this was their way of building a rapport with the kids, teaching them character, self-discipline, and as well as making them just good community members. What are some of the principles and some of the things you have the kids recite? We have 16 bylaws in it. We, everyone has to recite a bylaw. And they're simple bylaws that we live by. One of them is, I'll never use any profane language. And I think that's important, and we tell the kids that. As I say, there's one thing that disturbs me is if I'm walking through a shopping center and there's a group of young people and they're using profanity and it's just disturbing. So I would want my students to be good, decent people and know the difference between right and wrong. What are some of the other interesting things that you have them recite on a daily basis? Well, we have never say in one house what you hear in another. Never speak ill of the absent. Never misuse these arts or use them for self-gain. Those are some of the real interesting. And protect the innocent, forgive the ignorant and tame only the wild. However, let us tame ourselves first before we tame the wild. Words of wisdom. Love hearing those. Now, you're also the director of security for Securitas. I am. And you're the president of Crime Stoppers? Yes. Are you busier now than you ever been? I'm busy. I'm busy. How's everything with Crime Stoppers nowadays? Crime Stoppers is good. I just became president and we're redoing our bylaws and we have some new members that have come on. The members that will help us to help spread Crime Stoppers and help with the... The intent is really to catch all those who are wanted, right? Yeah, for sure. So, you need a board to do that and we have a good board. Well, you as president, that's awesome. Now, Chief, we're going to take a quick break and then when we come back, we're going to continue going beyond law enforcement. Okay. You're watching Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii with my special guest, Chief Lee Donahue. We will be back in 60 seconds. Hey, Loha, my name is Andrew Lanning. I'm the host of Security Matters Hawaii. I'm airing every Wednesday here on Think Tech Hawaii, live from the studios. I'll bring you guests. I'll bring you information about the things in security that matter to keeping you safe, your co-workers safe, your family safe, to keep our community safe. We want to teach you about those things in our industry that may be a little outside of your experience. So please join me because Security Matters, Loha. Aloha, I'm Cynthia Sinclair. And I'm Tim Apachella. We are hosts here at Think Tech Hawaii, a digital media company serving the people of Hawaii. We provide a video platform for citizen journalists to raise public awareness in Hawaii. We are a Hawaii nonprofit that depends on the generosity of its supporters to keep on going. We'd be grateful if you'd go to thinktechhawaii.com and make a donation to support us now. Thanks so much. Thanks so much. Welcome back to Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii. My special guest today is an extraordinary leader who was the Chief of Police of our Honolulu Police Department from 1998 to 2004. He is Chief Lee Donahue, and today we are going beyond law enforcement. Chief, in my book Beyond the Lines, a big part of it is about leadership. And I mean, you're an extraordinary leader. What do you feel the best leaders do? What are the qualities of the best leaders, in your opinion? That they listen to their people and find out what their needs are and their wants. I mean, it's good to know what they want also, but there is a definite separation between the two and try to satisfy their needs and do it on a daily basis. That's to me the most important part of a leader and making it known how you're trying to get their needs met. Because it's important to them because I know that when we did surveys, the farther you go away from your core unit, like if you're in a sector, the farther you go away, the less trust you have of those above you. And it's just something that goes with any organization. So knowing that, you have to be able to come down and provide what they need. I think you have to be able to listen to them. You should never, I'll give you an example. I had this, I was on a way to a meeting and I was walking through the hallways and I was gonna be late, but this officer stopped me in the hallway and said, chief, can I ask you a question? And I could have told him, I'm not down. I'm late for a meeting, but it was important for him to ask me. So I said, sure, ask me the question. And I answered his question and at least it satisfied his need at that time. But you have to do that as a leader. You have to, you can't stop that. And empathy is huge with your team and building trust, like you said, and respect and loyalty. So, you know, and that's what a leader has to do. I mean, really, and it's not easy. It's not easy because there's so many demands on a leader, but you have to understand, without your people, nobody's gonna follow you. That's right. Now, and you had, I mean, you're the leader of the entire Hulu Police Department. What were your top priorities with your team of police officers? Well, one was safety. Yeah, for sure. Safety first, and we covered that. And the other thing was accreditation. Yeah. And so we went for accreditation because accreditation would show that we met the standards of law enforcement and that we could match ourselves with any major city police department. So a major city police department in the United States at that time, I'm sure it's about the same, it has a population of at least 500,000. Wow. And of that, there are probably 55 major city police departments. Of the 55, there were only 12 that were accredited. So we became the 13th. Oh, that's great. Yeah, so, you know, it was something that we could, because you can use that to the good of the officers. The reason for that is when you get sued, you can show that through your accreditation process, you have met the standards of law enforcement. Yeah. And that goes a long way in helping the officers. Chief, let's talk about Chief Susan Ballard. And she's very well respected and she's taking the department in a great direction. Why do you like her so much? Susan worked for me. Yeah. And I saw her coming up through the ranks. And if I'm correct, I think I was the last one to promote her to major. You know, but she knew how to take care of her people. And that was one of her strongest things that I saw in her as she was coming up. And I remember one time she was in finance and I was starting Kickstart. Okay. And, you know, I was getting a lot of flack because people say, how come you're using department money to do this karate? I said, no, it's not about just karate. It's about working with youth and at risk youth. Yeah. So she had the foresight to tell me, Chief, why don't we just put this as a line item budget and the budget? And then you don't have to justify this every year. I mean, that's the way she was thinking. Yeah, that's awesome. And all of a sudden, I thought of that. I remember she lost the officer in her cabane and how that impacted her. But you know, she was able to carry through. And when I saw her make Chief, I was so happy for her. Yeah, sure. We all are. Now what do you see as her biggest challenge right now as Chief? I think the vacancies that she has to fill is one. And getting the support of the city administration, which I think she has, it seems that Mayor Caldwell is behind her. But without the city support, it's hard to get funding that you need. I remember one time when Chief Nakamura was the Chief, the mayor at that time, he was upset with Chief Nakamura. He wouldn't let us buy cars to replace the old cars. And we were driving junk out there. Officers were getting upset with us. So it's good that the mayor supports you. But yet I see that she holds her lines. And she makes her demands known. She does very well. Awesome. Now Chief, have you had any major adversities in your life that you have to overcome? I think in answer to your question, in my youth, it was not having a dad. But I had great mentors that took care of me, my brother-in-law, my brothers. Then going on in life, I think there was this one time when I was trying to get the defibrillators. There were 80 defibrillators available through the city council, but the union was fighting me on this. They said, no, you're stepping into a different realm of work. And I said, no, I don't think so. I think our job is to save lives, and this will help us do it. So the union said, well, OK, if you can get volunteers to do it, we won't object. So the sign-up list was going very slow. And Boise Correa was in charge of the project at that time. So he and I went into a competition. And it just happened. He had the very first defibrillator that we had, he had it in the trunk of his car. And I went through an exercise. And when I got through, I actually collapsed. And I was having a heart attack. So what happened is Boise got the defibrillator out of the car. Because they were giving me a CPR, but it wasn't working because I was turning purple. Hamdons was on the way. But he was able to get that defibrillator out of his car. And they hooked it up to me and boom. And as soon as they turned it on, you could see the color coming back in me. So I survived. I survived that. I landed up in the hospital. And when I came out, I had no problems with people signing up for defibrillators. So today, we have defibrillators in a lot of the cars out on the patrol. Wow, the irony that you wanted it and it ultimately saved your life. Now, everywhere we go, there's defibrillators. Exactly. And I think because of that incident, a lot of United Airlines was told they had to put defibrillators on their planes. So I heard a lot of stories afterwards. Thank you for sharing that. Chief, what has been the greatest advice you've ever received in your life? Be nice. Yeah, simple. Be nice. Why can't everybody be nice? Everyone's capable of that. And I used to tell the recruits when they're graduating, they're going to leave you with two words that will affect your career. And these two words are, be nice. Yeah. Well, and I think that's very important. Yeah, I totally agree. I second that. I want to know, what are your thoughts about the homeless crisis? I mean, it's not just here, but it's nationwide. But what are your thoughts about and how the police officers, sometimes it seems like they're handcuffed in what they can do. Right. And it's a tough problem. The one that I don't think will ever see the answer to fully. Yeah. I think the answer to homelessness is the government getting involved and providing living spaces for these people. And you see it going on, but it's not enough. As I understand it, people have said that a lot of families are one paycheck away from being homeless. Yeah. You know, so it seems to be growing. And no matter how much the government tries to place them, the problem grows even bigger. Well, the police officers in dealing with this, they're charged with either moving them along or making sure they're following the rules wherever they're at. And it's a tough job because who wants to be homeless? But I mean, if you've ever dealt with homeless people, you'll find that they're a little bit different. A lot of them are really good families that have met tough times. Then there are others that don't want to don't care. They just don't want to be told what to do and have to live by rules and regulations. And so they like it in the parks or on the sidewalks. Chief, in closing, I want to ask you one more thing. What gives you fulfillment? Well, I think whenever I look at Lucy's, she's been such a big part of my life. Yeah. So whenever I see her happy, then that gives me fulfillment. You're getting me. You're getting me all. I'm sorry, but that's what gives me fulfillment. I love that. Seeing that my family is doing well. And I help them if they're in trouble. If they're not, then you just support them. I love it. Thanks for your insights. And thank you for sharing that about Lucy as well. Thank you. Thank you, Chief. And thank you for watching Beyond the Lines on ThinkTekHawaii and a special thank you to my clothing sponsor, Eolani Incorporated. For more information, please visit RustyKamori.com. And my book is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I hope that Chief Lee and I will inspire you to create your own superior culture of excellence and to find your greatness and help others find theirs. Aloha.