Lee Dixon Donohue was sworn in as the eighth Chief of Police for the Honolulu Police Department on April 20, 1998. As the Chief, he is responsible for the operation and administration of the City and County of Honolulu’s primary law enforcement agency and its 2,500 sworn and civilian personnel. This jurisdiction encompasses the entire island of Oahu, where 70 percent of the state of Hawaii’s 1.2 million residents live. Hawaii’s capitol and center of commerce, Honolulu, is located on Oahu.
Chief Donohue joined the Honolulu Police Department in 1964. He has spent most of his career in field patrol and, as a major, commanded the patrol operations from Pearl City to Waianae for six years. He has also worked in the Records and Identification, Communications and Narcotics-Vice divisions as well as Internal Affairs. Prior to his selection as Chief, he held the rank of Deputy Chief, the department’s second highest rank, and oversaw field operations.
Chief Donohue has developed and implemented several prominent operations and programs, including Critical Incident Stress Debriefing and Operation Green Harvest, a large scale marijuana eradication effort. An accomplished karate instructor (sixth degree black-belt), he is a co-founder of Kick Start Karate, a martial arts program that encourages at-risk youths to excel in school. His professional memberships include the International Association of Chiefs of Police, Hawaii State Law Enforcement Officials Association, Council of Police and Private Security, Honolulu Police Relief Association, and The 200 Club, an organization of prominent business leaders dedicated to supporting police efforts.
Of Korean-Irish ancestry, Chief Donohue is a graduate of McKinley High School, Honolulu Community College and Chaminade University. He is married to his high school sweetheart, the former Lucille Park. They have two sons, the oldest of whom is a Honolulu police officer, and two daughters.
The Chief’s recreational pursuits include golf, fishing and reading. He also coached Pop Warner and high school football for nearly two decades.