18 new corrections officers graduate from basic recruit training

The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation welcomed a new class of 18 adult corrections officers during a graduation ceremony on Friday. The new corrections officers completed training and will begin their careers in facilities across the state, including three at the Maui Community Correctional Center in Wailuku.

This is the fourth class of corrections officers that graduated since the DCR was redesignated from the Department of Public Safety to DCR effective Jan. 1, 2024.

Since the redesignation, the DCR compressed the recruit training course from 11 weeks to eight weeks, while still covering critical training to ensure Adult Corrections Officers (ACOs) are well-prepared for their jobs.

The department also doubled the number of graduating classes to six, to address staff shortages at facilities in Hawai‘i.

Director Tommy Johnson of the DCR said, “We diligently continue our efforts to fill ACO vacancies. This graduating class reflects those efforts.”

There are approximately 380 vacant ACO positions of the estimated 1,500 authorized ACO positions.

The BCRC training course includes more than 300 hours of classroom instruction and physical training. Recruits learn a variety of subjects that include standards of conduct, ethics and professionalism, report writing, interpersonal communications, maintaining security, crisis intervention, security threat groups (gangs), mental health, first aid, use of firearms and self-defense tactics.

The department’s mission is to provide a secure correctional environment for comprehensive rehabilitative, holistic, wraparound re-entry services including culturally based approaches, to persons sentenced to our custody and care. Our goal is to reduce recidivism and generational incarceration and enhance the safety and security of our communities.

All incoming classes receive Recruit Field Training along with Basic Corrections Training. During the final weeks of training, they go into the facility and begin their jobs with guidance from their training sergeants.

The 18 graduates have been assigned to the following jail and prison facilities:

• Maui Community Correctional Center: 3
• Hālawa Correctional Facility: 3
• Kaua‘i Community Correctional Center: 1
• Women’s Community Correctional Center: 4 
• Hawaiʻi Community Correctional Center 5
• Oʻahu Community Correctional Center: 2