The Kona Crime Prevention Committee recently honored two Hawaii Police Department officers as Officer of the Month for May and June during an awards ceremony at Huggo’s on the Rocks in Kona.
Community Policing Officer Bryan Ellis was recognized as Officer of the Month for May 2022 for his strong work ethic and proactive policing.
Ellis, who has been with the department for two decades, takes the initiative to stay abreast of the most pressing community issues, working with partner county agencies, nonprofit organizations, and community-based groups to address community concerns. He also works to create new Neighborhood Watch and Business Watch programs in the community and remains in contact with these groups, working with them toward solving their concerns and issues.
“Officer Ellis has proven to be a hardworking, proactive, and highly capable police officer,” said Kona Community Policing Sergeant Michael Hardie, who nominated him for the award. “He is an asset to the Hawaii Police Department and the community that he serves.”
Officer Len Hamakado was recognized as Officer of the Month for June 2022.
A nine-year veteran of the department, Hamakado was honored for his traffic enforcement and proactive policing efforts while he was working the overnight shift during April 2021. A certified Drug Recognition Expert (DRE), Hamakado was responsible for nine DUI arrests, helping to keep island roads safe. Of those nine arrests, six of the individuals were charged and an additional two arrests were routed to prosecutors for review.
Also during April 2021, Hamakado was the lead investigator for 22 criminal investigations, was the officer in charge of 17 non-criminal reports, made a total of 17 arrests (including the DUI arrests), and issued 109 traffic citations.
“Officer Hamakado has been a positive influence on our watch and the community,” said Kona Patrol Sergeant David Araki, who nominated him for the award.
Every month the Kona Crime Prevention Committee honors a police officer in west Hawaii as their Officer of the Month. Officers are nominated by their supervisors from the various police districts and a winner is selected by the KCPC board of directors. All officers selected for Officer of the Month are eligible to be selected as the Kona Crime Prevention Committee’s Officer of the Year.
