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School’s out — but not for MPD’s school resource officers

Maui’s entire unit will be recognized at a national conference in Reno, Nev., next week

Sgt. Terence Gomez (center) is surrounded by police school resources officers (from left) Nichole Comilang, Nephi Laga, Jonathan Honda, Ryan Nagata, Stuart Farberow, Frank “Keola” Abreu, Marvin Tevaga and Brandon Phillips. Missing from the photo are Ian Custer, Jonathan Aquino and Stanislav Kraytchev. The unit will receive the Model Agency Award from the National Association of School Resource Officers next week. MAUI POLICE DEPARTMENT photo

WAILUKU — Along with working in intermediate and high schools to keep students safe, police school resource officers played basketball with youths in public housing parks, joined students at a DUI roadblock and solved some major crimes last year.

“The program has completely evolved from just being cops in the schools protecting our kids,” said police Juvenile Section Sgt. Terence Gomez, who supervises the team of 11 Maui Police Department school resource officers. “It’s inspiring to see how it works.” 

Each officer has developed a niche, whether it be scheduling youth flag football games for the Maui Police Activities League, organizing Operation Helping Hands to give food and school supplies to homeless families or running a Teen Academy to familiarize select youths with police recruit training.

The officers work together to carry out the projects.

 “It takes the entire team to do what they do,” Gomez said. “Everybody has their own intricate part.” 

The MPD unit will be recognized with the 2018 National Association of School Resource Officers Model Agency Award at the organization’s annual conference next week in Reno, Nev. The award is for Region 9, which also includes California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho.

School resource officer Marvin Tevaga, who is assigned to King Kekaulike High School, will receive the 2018 Floyd Ledbetter School Resource Officer of the Year Award at the conference.

 “When we have an officer that’s selected as the School Resource Officer of the Year, it’s not surprising at all that their agency would be the Model Agency,” said Mo Canady, executive director of the National Association of School Resource Officers. “They’re a great department. For them to be recognized as Model Agency is not surprising for me.” 

He said the Model Agency Award is given once to a law enforcement agency.

 “You’re a Model Agency forever,” he said. “We expect you to maintain that standard. Once you’ve won it, it’s kind of a one-time deal in a positive way. It says you’ve reached the standard.” 

The award recognizes that officers not only handle criminal cases in schools but also take on roles as counselors and teachers, doing presentations on issues including bullying, cyberbullying and drug use. They help carry out active shooter training exercises as part of EPIC, or Emergency Preparedness Increasing Our Community’s Awareness.

Recognizing the significance of the national awards, Police Chief Tivoli Faaumu sought county funding so the officers could attend the conference June 25 to 29 along with Assistant Chief Victor Ramos.

School resource officers’ work has taken on more importance in light of incidents around the country, Faaumu said.

“We have active shooter issues throughout our nation and the challenges our youth are facing,” Faaumu said. “These folks are doing more than just being in the schools. They work very closely with the Department of Education to address some of their concerns and work closely with the community to make sure that our children receive the best education.” 

Faaumu said his goal is to have an officer assigned to all public intermediate and high schools in the county.

In addition to Tevaga, the school resource officers are Frank “Keola” Abreu at Kalama Intermediate, Nichole Comilang at Lokelani Intermediate, Stuart Farberow at Lahainaluna High, Jonathan Honda at Maui High, Nephi Laga at Baldwin High, Ryan Nagata at Maui Waena Intermediate, Brandon Phillips at Iao Intermediate, Ian Custer at Hana High, Jonathan Aquino at Molokai High and Stanislav Kraytchev at Lanai High.

Because there isn’t an officer assigned full time to Lahaina Intermediate School, four officers each work one day a week on the campus.

Faaumu said he often hears compliments about the officers’ work from Department of Education administrators.

“There are a lot of positive outcomes,” he said. “They are making a difference in our schools.” 

Last September, Lokelani Intermediate students were approached by two men who reportedly tried to lure the girls into a car while they were walking to a bus stop in Kihei. After the incident was reported to Comilang, she located the vehicle described by the girls and did other investigation that led to the arrests of the two men on kidnapping charges.

Instead of just documenting the incident and forwarding reports to other police units, Comilang “took ownership,” Faaumu said. “She continued looking into it and working it,” he said.

In November, school resource officers worked with police juvenile investigators and detectives to solve an arson case that caused $1.2 million in damage at Kahului Elementary School. Two 17-year-old boys were arrested.

“It’s one of those cases that sometimes you can’t solve, but they did,” Faaumu said. “It was very impressive.” 

He also recalled how Juvenile Section officers happened to be outside the Wailuku Police Station to have their photos taken in February 2016 when a teenage boy pulled up in a car and pretended to have a gun. The officers acted quickly and managed to defuse the situation once they realized the boy was unarmed and there wasn’t a real threat, Faaumu said.

At times, officers have followed up on information provided through the Text-A-Tip confidential reporting program that was started in 2015 by officer Trinidad Alconcel when he was Baldwin school resource officer. The program allows school staff and students to report issues and problems on campus.

“It allows the SROs to engage with these students,” Gomez said. “We can text back. The students have accepted these officers like they would a teacher or a mentor. 

“The relationships that they build with their schools has helped with a lot of prevention.” 

Last year, after a report that a high school student had a handgun in class and was making threats, officers contacted the boy and his parents and found an umbrella with a handle that could have been mistaken for the butt of a gun. The officers arranged for a meeting with the student, parents and school administrators.

Acting on information about adults selling drugs to students, officers made drug arrests at Makena State Park, Upcountry and in Wailuku and West Maui last year.

“The SRO program is just taking off. It’s been a great year for the program,” said Lt. Scott Migita, commander of the Juvenile Section. “We hope to continue making a difference within the schools and in the community. 

“Especially in light of what’s happening across the country, the safety of the students is the most important thing. With the SROs, we’re able to deter a lot of threats from occurring, potential situations from developing.” 

After a student is arrested, that doesn’t end the contact officers will have with the student, Gomez said. Students may be referred into diversion programs that are also run by juvenile investigators and counselors. The programs incorporate community service and parents’ involvement.

When the MPD school resource officer program was started in 1999 by now-retired Sgt. Hervina Aguinaldo-Santos, eight officers were assigned to work in high schools. In 2005, it was expanded to include five intermediate schools.

Gomez was the first school resource officer at Iao Intermediate at a time when the officers worked in patrol districts during school breaks.

Now, the officers spend most school break time working on projects.

“Every day we have something going on,” Gomez said. 

Last summer, that included Operation Helping Hands to distribute food, school supplies and school registration information to homeless families. In Operation Sports for Kids, officers wore their uniforms while playing basketball, football and volleyball to interact with youths at public housing parks, then donated balls they had bought to the kids.

The officers helped Big Brothers Big Sisters with a beach day and participated in the organization’s career day for 3rd- to 6th-graders. In December, Baldwin’s Students Against Destructive Decisions group members joined officers at a DUI roadblock, holding signs and passing out bottles of water to sober drivers.

The officers also volunteer as coaches and referees for the nonprofit Maui Police Activities League, which offers free activities such as flag football for elementary students. School resource officers took on the responsibility of running the league this year, with Laga handling scheduling of activities, which could be expanded to areas outside Central Maui.

Plans are underway for the third annual Teen Academy, which offers selected high school students the opportunity to experience some of the training that police recruits go through. This summer, the program is being expanded to two weeks and 20 students.

“Hopefully, it will inspire them to do what we do,” Gomez said. “It takes a special person to be an officer. You don’t do it for the money. You do it because you enjoy doing the job. That’s the rewards we reap.”

Tevaga said the national awards “really are to highlight our children, our kids.”

“This award is their award,” he said. “It’s all for the kids.” 

* Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.

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