For their consistent proactive efforts to keep our island community safe, three Hawai‘i Police Department officers were honored as Officers of the Month by the Kona Crime Prevention Committee during the first quarter of the year. Officer Elijah Won was recognized as Officer of the Month for January 2021, Officer Jeremiah Hull was recognized as Officer of the Month for February 2021, and Officer Kelena Kealoha for March 2021.
Officer Won was nominated for his actions on September 9-10 2020, when two early morning beat checks in the Keauhou and Nani Kailua areas of Kona he located suspects committing fuel theft and involved in drug activity. In both cases, Officer Won was praised for his quick and efficient investigations, resulting in multiple counts of promoting a dangerous drug, and one count of promoting a harmful drug and drug paraphernalia.
Officer Hull was honored for his proactive policing efforts on Ali‘i Drive. Seeing a vehicle swerving on Ali‘i Drive last August, he conducted a traffic stop and discovered that in addition to the driver not having a driver’s license or insurance, there was a loaded unregistered shotgun, ammunition, and drug paraphernalia in the car. Both the driver and the vehicle passenger were arrested. In another case, Officer Hull was able to subdue and arrest a man who had been chasing a woman with a knife.
Exemplifying a consistently strong work ethic, Officer Kealoha was honored for his work in separate theft investigations that took place in October 2020. In one case, Officer Kealoha tracked down a suspect wanted for the theft of golf clubs in the Keauhou area. Apprehending the suspect, Officer Kealoha also discovered a shotgun, which the suspect was prohibited from possessing, leading to additional firearms charges against the suspect. In a second case, he was able to locate a suspect wanted in a felony theft investigation and recover a stolen generator and tools.
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. KCPC normally holds a monthly luncheon to honor the officer, however, due to COVID-19 restrictions, no luncheons have been held since March 2020. Instead, KCPC presented plaques to the winners during morning meetings at the Kona Police Station.
All officers selected for Officer of the Month are eligible to be selected as the Kona Crime Prevention Committee’s Officer of the Year.