Hawaii County Police Chief Finalists Named

News Release from Hawaii County Police Commission Dec 6, 2022

The Hawaii County Police Commission today named four finalists for Hawaii County Police Chief.

The finalists are:

• Sherry Bird: Currently the major commanding the Area II Operations Bureau in Kona, Bird has been a member of the Hawaii Police Department since February 1998.

• Paul Applegate: Since June 2019, Applegate has been a captain in the Kauai Police Department’s Investigative Services Bureau. He also was a member of the Hawaii Police Department from June 1999 to October 2000 before moving to the Garden Island and joining its police department.

• Edward Ignacio: Ignacio retired from the FBI in December 2021 as a senior resident agent. He was an officer with the Hawaii Police Department from October 1996 to January 2000. He also was an officer in the Honolulu Police Department from October 1993 to October 1996.

• Benjamin Moszkowicz: A major in the Honolulu Police Department, Moszkowicz, who has 22 years of service to the department, is in charge of the Oahu police department’s traffic division.

A fifth finalist was selected, but the candidate rescinded his/her application.

The commission has scheduled special meetings on both sides of the island to introduce the finalists to the public, interview them, and to take public testimony.

The Hilo meeting is at 9 a.m. Monday at the County Council Chambers in Hilo, while the West Hawaii meeting is at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the County Council Chambers in the West Hawaii Civic Center in Kailua-Kona. Both meetings will be available to the public via Zoom.

Anyone wishing to submit testimony online via Zoom must sign up by 9 a.m. Friday by contacting Charisse Correa, the commission’s secretary, at (808) 932-2950 or Charisse.Correa@hawaiicounty.gov.

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HTH:  Applegate is the plaintiff in an active federal lawsuit against Kauai County, KPD, the Kauai Police Commission and Kauai Police Chief Todd Raybuck.  The civil suit, filed in August 2021, alleges that in April 2020, Applegate was improperly passed over a promotion to assistant chief of the department’s Administrative and Technical Bureau because he is part-Japanese. Applegate’s lawsuit also alleges he was retaliated against by the chief after Applegate filed complaints against him with Kauai County Human Resources Department, one of which resulted in Raybuck being suspended five days without pay.