NAWILIWILI — Family took front stage at the graduation of the Kaua‘i Police Department 80th Recruit Class, Friday night, at the Kaua‘i Marriott Resort and Beach Club. “The sad thing about this event is that we lost one of our
NAWILIWILI — Family took front stage at the graduation of the Kaua‘i Police Department 80th Recruit Class, Friday night, at the Kaua‘i Marriott Resort and Beach Club.
“The sad thing about this event is that we lost one of our fine dispatchers,” said Kaua‘i Police Chief Darryl Perry. “She got ill, was hospitalized and we just found out that we lost her.”
On the other hand, Tyrus Contrades, a graduate, had just two hours of sleep leading up to the graduation because he became a father.
Maunakea Trask, the keynote speaker at the graduation, said during the course of training, he heard of an officer who had to leave because his wife was having a baby.
But surprising everyone, that officer was back in the ranks the following day, demonstrating the kind of commitment an individual makes when choosing the road to become a police officer, Trask said.
Joel Miyashiro Jr., another graduate, had a sick grandfather who couldn’t make the Friday night ceremonies, but was a police officer and served as an inspiration for Miyashiro to join the brotherhood of police officers — a term used freely by the graduates throughout the night.
Gary Heu, representing Kaua‘i Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr., said he had just come from a graduation of Ni‘ihau students where the family was heavily involved. While watching a video produced by Isaiah Sarsona, another graduate, he realized the role of family.
At the KCC graduation, there was the solemn ‘Aha Ho‘omoloa ceremony where the pahu delivered the spirit of accomplishments to Akua. On the other side of the spectrum, there was the role-playing by 80th Recruit Class officers in a childbirth scenario.
The simple phrase, “Be well, do the work, and keep in touch,” delivered to the KCC graduates also worked well at the police graduation. Reflecting on the meaning of the phrase, he said it serves as a “sanity check” for officers during times of stress.
He said it takes great understanding on the part of family to make a great police officer.
“When he comes home from work, don’t argue, but give him a back massage,” Trask said. “And don’t just throw his clothes in the trash.”
The importance of the people behind the police officer was evident in the large number of people that filled the Kaua‘i Marriott Resort and Beach Club to support and celebrate the graduation of 13 new officers.
Among those was the family of graduate Michael Nii, named the Most Outstanding Police Recruit. Although there was not enough room for everyone in the Nii well-wishers party, they came to present their own congratulations and lei and the sense of pride they felt was reflective of the ‘ohana of each of the graduates that lined a small stage in the Marriott’s Salon No. 3.
“What you do for yourself dies with you,” said Perry. “What you do for others lives forever.”
Perry told the graduates that the Hawaiian word for righteousness, pono, should guide their decisions.
Derek Kawakami, representing the Kaua‘i County Council, said he brought his daughter along to share in the experience.
“Every child’s hero is a policeman,” Kawakami said. “When young children play Cops and Robbers, everyone wants to be the Cop. You were my hero when I was 5; you’re still my hero today.”
Graduates of the 80th Recruit Class, sworn in by Judge Randal Valenciano, include: Anthony Abalos, Arthur Caberto, Contrades, Marnie Fernandez, Daniel Milloy, Miyashiro, Floyd Niau, Nii, Tyson Relacion, Makana Rivera, Sarsona, Larry Soliman, and Shawn Hanna, who returned to KPD as an officer after a stint on the Mainland.
