PUHI — Fale Matangi was the only one from her family who attended the Police Explorers year-end awards ceremony, Tuesday at the Kaua‘i Community College dining facility. “Fale’s mother is so proud of her daughters,” said Kaua‘i Police Department officer
PUHI — Fale Matangi was the only one from her family who attended the Police Explorers year-end awards ceremony, Tuesday at the Kaua‘i Community College dining facility.
“Fale’s mother is so proud of her daughters,” said Kaua‘i Police Department officer Darla Abbatiello-Higa, advisor for the Explorers program. “She kept saying how she wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
But Monday night, the Matangi matriarch, a single parent raising two daughters, called Abbatiello-Higa from the emergency room after suffering a heart attack.
“She kept saying how she was planning to attend the ceremony,” Abbatiello-Higa said. “But they medevac-ed her to Straub Hospital and Fuka, there’s an empty seat for her, is with her.”
Abbatiello-Higa said just for Tuesday night, she is relaxing the cell phone rules so the Explorers can take photos and videos and send them to her in the hospital.
During the year-end ceremony, Judge Laurel Loo-Marshall administered the Oath of Office to four Explorers who were promoted.
Azzua Valente-Lancaster was promoted to Lieutenant, Justin Pasadava, Tiana Victorino and Shelby Tangalin were each promoted to Sergeants.
Valente-Lancaster and Tangalin were additionally presented awards for Firearms and Law Enforcement.
Their awards in Law Enforcement were also shared by Fuka and Fale Matangi, Victorino, Kenji Langille, Amber Suguitan, Pasadava and Rafael Guzman.
Two Explorers, Tristian Buckner and Kamaka Chun, recently joining the program, were presented Participation Awards, Chun’s mother, Jonette, helping to create a special celebratory cake featuring a KPD Blue-and-White with Abbatiello-Higa’s license plate.
Pasadava was also presented the Explorer of the Year Award, Abbatiello-Higa noting that when he joined the program he was a quiet, humble young man who has grown to spread his wings and take on new challenges without complaint.
“He has shown his commitment to his family,” Abbatiello-Higa said. “When he got his first paycheck, unlike other teens who could have succumbed into buying something for himself, he asked, ‘What can I buy for my family?’”
Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr., in congratulating the 12 Explorers for their individual accomplishments and achievements, thanked the Rural Development program at the Kaua‘i Community College, Senator Daniel Inouye and the Kaua‘i Police Department for making this opportunity available for Kaua‘i’s young people.
Abbatiello-Higa, in quoting from Assistant Police Chief Mark Begley, said the Explorer program, started in 2009, is available to young people between 14 to 20 years old, teaching them important life skills which prepare them for the future.
The program also strengthens family and community bonds because the Explorers serve with excellence and aloha.
“They’ve helped at all of the parades, helped feed the hungry, worked with the community in the Keiki ID program and much more,” Abbatiello-Higa said. “All the while, they’re learning about law enforcement.”
For more information on the Kaua‘i Police Explorer program, call 241-1674.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
