The Hawaii Island Security and Safety Professionals Association on Aug. 9 recognized Hawaii Police Department Sgt. Erich Jackson as their HISSPA Officer of the Quarter for the third quarter of 2019.
Sgt. Jackson commands a shift of patrol officers in the South Kohala Patrol Division. He was nominated for this recognition because of his outstanding job performance as a supervisor, commitment to the South Kohala community, and his dedication to duty, police said in a statement.
In one particular situation, Sgt. Jackson responded to a scene where an individual forcefully entered an occupied residence and barricaded himself in a bedroom, police said Jackson took control of the scene, coordinated the placement of officers in strategic locations around the house, and used his crisis negotiation skills to distract the suspect while officers entered the home and arrested the suspect without injury or further damage to property. He has supervised and coordinated the arrests of numerous dangerous suspects, which resulted in the seizure of illegal firearms and the recovery of stolen vehicles and illegal drugs. Additionally, under his direction, his shift of officers along with his enforcement efforts, have resulted in 31 DUI arrests and the issuance of over 2,000 traffic citations in Fiscal Year 2018-2019.