Kauai Island Branch Chief Brad "Kipi" Akana (from left), Oahu Branch Chief John Silberstein, Maui Branch Chief Howard Rodrigues and Hawaii Island Branch Chief Lawrence Terlep Jr. are introduced to conservation officer recruits on Monday. Photo courtesy of DLNR

The Maui News

Training began Monday for the largest-ever academy of state conservation police officers, with 37 men and five women from Maui, Oahu, Hawaii island and Kauai preparing to join the ranks next year.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement academy includes nine months of classroom instruction followed by two months in the field under the supervision of a training officer, according to a DLNR news release. Of the 42 recruits, eight are from Maui.

“This is the largest academy we’ve ever staged,” DOCARE Chief Jason Redulla said Monday. “This is our third academy, and the second for recruits who have no previous law enforcement training or background. It comes at a critical time for us, as the pressures and impacts on Hawaii’s natural and cultural resources increase all the time. These folks will help our existing officers educate people using state lands and ocean waters.”

More conservation officers are needed around the state for missions such as around-the-clock protection for a monk seal mother and her pup on Oahu’s Kaimana Beach. Lt. Carlton Helm, who leads the academy program for DOCARE, said that the new officers will help out with regular patrol as well as large, time-consuming missions and special duty on other islands when needed.

“The pandemic really highlighted the need for resilience and being adaptive and fluid to the working and occupational environment we work in,” Helm said. “For example, a Hawaii Island DOCARE officer may have to respond to the hunting areas on Mauna Kea one morning, and then find themselves responding to the rain forests of Puna or Volcano in the afternoon. Teaching these recruits about being adaptive and fluid is an important component of their training. Their bodies, their minds, and their spirit will need to be adaptive.”

He added that it’s taken years of work with the Governor’s Office, the Legislature, other state departments and DLNR leadership to open and fund the largest recruit class in DOCARE’s history, and to prepare for Monday’s academy start.