HPD Promotes 2 Female Captains to Rank of Major

Hawai‘i Police Chief Paul Ferreira has promoted two female captains to the rank of Major effective March 16, 2021. There have never been two female Majors in the department before and the last time a woman was promoted to Major was in 1991.

Sherry Bird, a 23-year veteran is now assigned to the Area II Field Operations Bureau, which encompasses the police department’s West Hawaii districts. Bird’s former assignments were as a Patrol Officer in the North Kohala and Kona districts, Officer in the Criminal Intelligence Unit, Detective in Area II Vice (Kona), Lieutenant in Area II Vice (Kona), Lieutenant in Area II Criminal Investigation Division (Kona), and Patrol Captain for the South Kohala district.

Aimee Wana, a 25-year veteran is now assigned to the department’s Administrative Bureau. Wana‘s former assignments were as a Patrol Officer in South Hilo, Detective in Area II Juvenile Aid Section (Kona), Sergeant in the Dispatch Center, Lieutenant in the Dispatch Center, Patrol Captain for the South Kohala district, and Captain in the Administrative Bureau.

These are historic promotions in that it’s the first time Hawai‘i Police Department has had two female law enforcement officers holding the upper management rank of Major at the same time, and 26 years since a woman has held the rank of Major within the department. In 1991, Cheryl Reis was the first female officer to achieve the rank of Major within Hawai‘i police Department and she retired in 1994.

In recent years the department has made strides to recruit a larger number of female officers, with women now accounting for 8.6% of sworn positions, (37 uniformed officers), up from 6.7%, (30 uniformed officers), in 2017. When the department’s most recent recruit class graduated last month, 13%, or three of the 22 officers, were women.