Officer Kaliloa & Others Honored During Police Week Ceremonies

Police Chief Paul K. Ferreira offered these thoughts at the Police Week Memorial Service which took place at the Hawaiʻi Police Department’s Memorial Wall on Monday, May 13, 2019.

HPD’s Memorial Wall. Courtesy HPD

“On October 1, 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed a law designating May 15th of each year, as Peace Officers’ Memorial Day, and the week that it falls in as National Police Week.

National Police Week is when all police departments and communities throughout America honor and pay tribute to police officers who have died or who have been disabled while performing their duties as law enforcement professionals.

Sadly, for the Hawai‘i Police Department, this year in addition to the names of our fallen brethren that have been recognized during ceremonies in previous years, we pay special tribute to our brother Officer Bronson Kaimana Kaliloa, who was killed in the line of duty on July 18, 2018.

As we gather here today, the Hawai‘i Police Department has a delegation of officers representing us at the National Police Week ceremonies being held at the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington D.C. That memorial honors all of America’s federal, state and local law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty dating back to the first known law enforcement officer’s death in 1792.

During the ceremony in Washington D.C., Officer Kaliloa’s name will be unveiled on the blue-gray marble walls of the memorial, which now displays 21,910 names of law enforcement officials that paid the ultimate price, while upholding the laws created to protect all people. With the addition of Officer Kaliloa, there are now the names of 56 officers from the State of Hawaii who are memorialized on the National Law Enforcement Memorial.

For us here on Hawai‘i Island, the names of our fallen heroes are etched onto the Hawai‘i Police Department’s law enforcement memorial, “Ka Malu Aloha.” With the tragic loss of Officer Bronson Kaimana Kaliloa, last year, his name has been memorialized on our wall through the unselfish donation of Mr. Michael Sasaki, who also donated his talents during the building of our Memorial.”