Don't expect Honolulu to have a new police chief for another four to five months, Police Commission chairwoman Christine H.H. Camp said yesterday.

In the meantime, Deputy Chief Paul Putzulu will serve as acting chief when current Chief Boisse Correa departs in late August and until a permanent replacement is chosen.

Correa's five-year contract ends Aug. 27. The commission last month chose not to give him a new contract and instead said it will begin searching for a successor.

The commission on Wednesday named Putzulu as acting chief. Camp said the announcement was a formality, as the law requires that the senior deputy chief — in this case Putzulu — become acting chief when there is a vacancy.

Putzulu is a 37-year veteran of the department and has been deputy chief since 2002.

"We wanted to make sure there's clarity," Camp said. "We wanted to make sure that people knew that there is a transition that's going to be orderly."

A three-member subcommittee of the commission has been tasked with recommending a selection committee of about three to seven members of the community. The selection committee will be announced at the commission's next meeting, on June 17.

Camp said that working with the city Department of Human Resources, the selection committee will be expected to come up with a list of two to five finalists for the chief's post "in the next three to four months."

Once that's done, Camp said, the names of the candidates would be made public and she anticipates the commission will pick a candidate within about a month after that.

Commission members decided to use a selection committee because "right now, our commission is relatively new" and short on experience when it comes to an open selection process, Camp said.

A community-based selection committee helped the Fire Commission pick current Fire Chief Kenneth Silva in 2005, she said.

The commission will be taking proposals for a consultant to help with the selection process, as was done the past three times a police chief has been selected, Camp said.

The city's Human Resources Department is expected to post the job opening and minimum qualifications in the next two weeks. Applications will probably be taken for about three weeks.

Camp said the commission is encouraging qualified applicants from throughout the country to apply, noting that the opening will be posted on the Internet.

However, she said, no search firm will be hired to seek out applications.

Further, she said, "anyone who applies should make sure they understand the sensitivities to our culture and our unique community."

Putzulu, through a police spokeswoman, said he has yet to decide if he will be an applicant for chief.