O'ahu traffic fatalities last year hit the second-lowest total in the last 50 years, as police stepped up traffic enforcement and arrested more drunk drivers, according to Police Chief Boisse P. Correa.

There were 46 traffic deaths last year, 14 of them alcohol-related, compared with 67 deaths and 24 alcohol-related fatalities in 2007. Honolulu police arrested 4,316 allegedly impaired drivers in 2008, the highest total in the past nine years, up from 3,921 in 2007.

"That means we're doing a lot of work. DUI enforcement is up 10 percent (from 2007). That means we're taking more people off the road that shouldn't be there and making our roads safer," said Correa in an interview with The Advertiser and the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. "We've been doing good work and the community is backing us up ... and we need the community support."

Correa also lauded the efficient work of his 2,134 police officers, the highest number of officers the department has had since 1970.

He thanked Mayor Mufi Hannemann and the city administration for not slicing into manpower and allowing for recruiting and retention at a time when the city is facing an estimated $13 million to $40 million deficit in the fiscal 2010 budget year ending June 30, 2010.

Manpower may have been spared but Correa is concerned that any cuts to the department's $210 million budget could undermine services.

"There is no fat in the Honolulu Police Department for serving and protecting this community," said Correa. "We're down to bare bones."

The declining traffic deaths come at a time when crime in Honolulu is at its lowest total since 1975 and officer discipline, with 90 complaints in 2008, is at its lowest point since 1983.

"That's substantial. We're still going to maintain our status as the safest city in the United States," Correa said. "It shows the officers are highly motivated and working hard."

Correa's five-year term as chief is up for renewal in August and he said he knows nothing about how the Honolulu Police Commission will handle his job status.

"I haven't heard anything one way or another from the police commission," Correa said. "It's up to the mayor and the police commission."

He said that after going through recovery for four back surgeries, his health is good and he maintains a "passion for the job." Correa wants to stay on as chief but said he hasn't thought about a time frame, and notes that "you don't want to walk out when the (economic) storm is coming."