The police were trying out their hoops and bracelet-making skills with the children of Kona.
On Wednesday, they were out at Lailani Apartments with a group of about 20 children that flexed and shifted in size.
The basketball court was active constantly with organized and semi-organized games. Sometimes it was the children throwing up the balls themselves, other times it was a rotating group of kids taking their shots.
They’d played a game earlier, which had as many as nine keiki against the officers, Officer Scott Dewey said.
One of the major goals is to encourage a connection between the keiki and the officers, said Nahale. Rather than seeing the officers as fearsome parts of the law, they want to be seen as part of the community, he said.
It’s a way to show the kids good examples, he said, as well as not leaving them with too much time on their hands.
One of the officers involved was Officer ChereRae Kalili, who is the school resource officer at the nearby Kealakehe Intermediate School.
She worked the friendship bracelet areas, something she had tested with her younger relatives beforehand.
It’s a different activity than she can normally do with her students, she said.
The use of the area had flipped throughout the day. Initially, the basketball court was dominated by boys, officers said, and the friendship bracelet by the girls. As the day continued, boys shifted to the shaded bracelet-making area.
They’ve also developed a link with the local summer lunch program, which provides food and drink to kids and teens. Their truck stopped by and the police distributed the turkey sandwiches, apples and pints of milk to the children. Most went a la carte, with the apples being the most popular.
The program intends to finish out summer break in various housing areas, Nahale said, then resume each school break.
Police work can interfere with their keiki time, said Nahale. He and several other officers were pulled off the assignment and sent to the scene of the standoff on July 14.
The children spoke to each other in Marshalese as they ran and played, transitioning to English to speak with the officers.
Several times Officer Kui Dela Cruz would encourage the boys to leave the shaded bracelet area, asking “where my basketball boys at?”
Most remained focused on their long headbands and bracelets, but soon joined him in the sunny basketball court.
One major change from previous years of the Hawaii Isle Police Athletics League is they are not going into Kona to hold the basketball tournament. Too many children were excluded because they did not have reliable transportation, said Nahale. It will still be open to everyone, but placing it mauka will make it more accessible, he said.
Kalili said one of the nice parts of working in this area is many of the keiki involved are also her students. This allows her to make connections with the keiki that she might not in school.
One was working away at the friendship bracelet smiling slightly as he worked to make one large enough to be a headband.
The bracelets were made out of rubber bands and required careful stacking and folding within a plastic frame. Most keiki were content with a bracelet of varying colors. Others were more extravagant, alternating colors at carefully set distances or using extensive color patterns.
The program is very helpful, said Michelle Liftee, who has volunteered with the program for 20 years.
She goes around to the apartments and tells as many children as possible that the event is on. They are very excited, she said, shouting and jumping.