The state police union yesterday said Honolulu Police Chief Boisse Correa should not be retained, while two of the state's top criminal prosecutors told the Honolulu Police Commission that Correa should be kept on the job to help preserve public safety in Honolulu.

Leaders of the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers, U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo and Honolulu Prosecutor Peter Carlisle spoke at the Police Commission meeting yesterday to offer input on how to handle Correa's contract, which expires in August.

Carlisle and Kubo testified that Correa is a valuable partner who deserves credit for collaborating with other arms of law enforcement to drive the city's crime rate to its lowest point in 34 years.

SHOPO officials, speaking after the meeting, said police officers do not support Correa and that a new chief is needed.

The commission members did not ask questions, nor did they comment while SHOPO officials and Kubo and Carlisle spoke.

The commission must decide on Correa's future within 30 days of his contract expiration in August.

"We'll take all of the testimony into consideration in making our decision whether to renew the chief's contract or not," said Keith Amemiya, commission vice chairman. "The bottom line is the commission fully supports the department and its men and women and we'll do what we feel is in the best interest of the department and the community as a whole."

Correa, who was hired on a five-year contract in August 2005, did not attend yesterday's meeting because he is attending the International Association of Chiefs of Police's Asia Pacific Executive Policing Conference in Taipei, Taiwan.

For the second time since 2005, SHOPO has surveyed all officers about what they think of Correa's leadership and whether or not he should remain in control of the state's largest law enforcement organization.

SHOPO officials did not release results of the survey yesterday because they are still compiling the comments section, but said after the commission meeting that the results indicated that officer displeasure with Correa is greater than it was in 2005, when union members were asked the same 15 questions.

"The officers want action. We did a survey because the officers don't want the chief's contract extended," said Tenari Maafala, SHOPO president. "A lot of them are frustrated."

In the 2005 SHOPO survey:

• 76.1 percent of respondents agreed that Correa "never or almost never communicates accurately or precisely with them."

• 73.7 percent agreed that Correa "never or almost never works well with line officers toward common goals."

• 78 percent agreed that morale was so low that they wished they had a different police chief.

The 2005 survey was returned by 1,068 of the O'ahu chapter's 1,877 members.

During the commission meeting, SHOPO officials said it would be the commission's decision whether to release the survey results and that the union intended to keep the results private.

The union and Correa's administration have been at odds over a number of issues, from Correa's management style and what the union deems an unfair system for disciplining officers, to a change in officers' work hours.

Testifying yesterday, Carlisle praised Correa for working with the prosecutor's office to streamline charging practices and for creating property-crime task forces.

"Chief Correa is a supervisor who supervises his employees; that doesn't necessarily lead to being the most popular," Carlisle said. "He believes in disciplining people early and properly and it doesn't make him popular but it makes him a great chief."

Kubo testified that "in each situation I have faced where I felt I had to pick up the phone and call the chief, the answer has always been, 'How can we help you?' I consider him an outstanding partner and I support him."