Officer Foxworthy named Officer of the Year

KAILUA-KONA — It was teamwork that led Jason Foxworthy to being honored as the Officer of the Year.

When the Kona Crime Prevention Committee award was announced on Wednesday, it took him a moment to step away from the other Officers of the Month at the King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel and make his way to the podium.

“I am extremely shocked and surprised. I was rooting for the other 11 guys,” Foxworthy said.

Actually, there were 10 other officers as KCPC honors 11 Officers of the Month a year due to its schedule, but nevertheless, Foxworthy was tops among a very select field.

“Yes, we do have crime in Kona, but thanks to these officers, it doesn’t last long,” said KCPC President Ken Obenski.

Foxworthy thanked the groups that support him and his fellow officers as he accepted the award. As a trainer, Foxworthy said it’s easy to talk to a crowd of hundreds on police matters, but much harder to do so when he’s being honored.

Although honored for his “high level of investigative competence and initiative,” his award cites one incident in particular that earned him the accolade.

Funny thing is, Foxworthy originally brought the award-winning incident to his supervisor’s attention because he wanted to honor Officer Dayson Taniguchi, a rookie officer who was working with Foxworthy in his role as a field training officer.

However, rookies are not eligible to the award and the focus shifted to him.

It happened on Jan. 17 when Foxworthy and Taniguchi were assigned to a stolen report vehicle from the Keauhou Shopping Center.

Foxworthy was vague about the details of the investigation, as the case has not entered the court system.

But the two officers arrived at the shopping center, bolstered by additional officers, and went to work, interviewing the victims and witnesses, surveying the area and searching for the suspect. During their investigation a member of the public approached them to provide additional information. They were able to locate the vehicle shortly after they started, Foxworhty said, thanks largely to teamwork between the officers on scene.

When the suspect was arrested, police recovered brass knuckles and drug paraphernalia.

A later search of the stolen vehicle found 2.4 grams of crystal meth. That amount has an approximate street value of $200.

In total police requested charges of unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle, second-degree meth trafficking, second-degree theft, third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, possession of drug paraphernalia and carrying a deadly weapon.

Having Taniguchi and other officers there helped them determine who the suspect was and locate him. Without that support, the arrest would not have been as rapid, Foxworthy said.

As it was, the vehicle was returned to its owner within 24 hours, instead of being burned and abandoned as often happens to stolen vehicles, he said.

This is not the first time the KCPC has recognized Foxworthy. He was the Officer of the Month in June 2014 and February and July 2012.

In his role as a trainer he tries to impress that there is no way to remember everything an officer needs to know. Instead, the goal is continual self-improvement, he said.

“Keep a positive attitude and try to improve every day,” he said.

Foxworthy and the other 10 officers are part of a department that has to deal with a community wildly different than the one where Third Circuit Chief Judge Ronald Ibarra grew up and went to school. For one thing, there was no meth, no heroin, no cocaine or other hard drugs to deal with.

“Beer and marijuana were the drugs police were dealing with,” he said.

That, and the continual expansion of the community, has led to specialized sections and additional staff. Officers may no longer be called “uncles,” he said, but they are trusted and respected.

“We don’t have outright disrespect for the law. We do in some communities, but not overall. And that’s because of the police department,” he said.