Major bust lands major award

KAILUA-KONA — When Hawaii Police Officer Marco Segobia took to the podium in the ballroom at the King Kamehameha Beach Hotel, he said he couldn’t believe he was up there.

The Kona Crime Prevention Committee named Segobia “Officer of the Year” during a luncheon on Wednesday. The event also recognized officers honored as “Officer of Month” for the past 365 days.

With the 12 honored officers sitting on a stage in front of their families, friends and colleagues, Segobia said he truly believed each officer on the stage could be where he was standing.

“Being a police officer is a life-long dream of mine,” Segobia said. “Every day I’m living my dream.”

With that, Segobia accepted the award.

Chief Paul Ferreira said Segobia is a good officer.

“I agree with him in that all officers on and off that stage are deserving of an award,” the chief said, adding that it’s important officers are recognized for the good they do in the community because more often than not, all they see is the bad.

“You call the police because there is something going wrong – not to invite them to a party,” Ferreira said.

Each officer honored at the luncheon was recognized for something specific they did while on or off the job. Segobia was recognized for his work in the vice department in toppling a drug trafficking organization.

“This particular case he worked on was really hard – he brought his work home,” said Segobia’s girlfriend Terrie Mamac. “I’m glad he got recognized for it.”

Segobia was specifically recognized for work he did in a drug bust, which led to the arrest of Derek Conway.

“This investigation began at the lowest level and through Officer Segobia’s work and perseverance, he was able to work his way up into the highest possible level of a major drug trafficking organization,” the luncheon program states.

The busted yielded methamphetamine, heroin and pills. Thousands of dollars were also recovered.

The officers recognized for the past year each month were:

Officer Darren Cho in July 2016; Officer Dustin Chaves in August 2016; Officer Justin Gaspar in October 2016; Officer Michael Collings in November 2016; Officer Andrew Springer in December 2016; Officer Erich Jackson in January; Officer Jeremiah Hull in February; Officer Chandler Nacino in March; Officer Michael Abran in April; Officer Gavin Heyworth in May; and Officer Marco Segobia in June.

“They don’t get personal recognition,” said committee vice president Diane Blancett-Maddock said. “The officers are so wonderful. They’re our ohana and they keep us safe.”