Det. Derek Morimoto Named Officer of the Year

Chief Harry Kubojiri, Deputy Chief Paul Ferreira and Lt. Gregory Esteban pose with HSLEOA Officer of the Year Derek Morimoto. HPD photo.

Detective Derek K. Morimoto was selected as the Hawaiʻi Police Department’s 2016 Hawaiʻi State Law Enforcement Officials Association “Officer of the Year.

Morimoto, an 18-year veteran of the department, was honored for his exceptional investigative work as a detective assigned to the Area I Criminal Investigations Section.

According to Lt. Gregory Esteban, Morimoto’s strength is “his ability to analyze investigative data, identifying strengths and weaknesses in his assignments, and finding the information or subjects he needs to build a strong and prosecutable case.”

For that reason, Esteban wrote in nomination papers, Morimoto was assigned to re-investigate cold cases and “has made excellent progress” on several, including providing information that led to murder indictments against the parents of a “notorious missing child case.”

“Detective Morimoto has found his calling and continues to excel in the investigative arena,” Esteban said.

The award was presented Sept. 9 at the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort in Poipu.