The Hawaii County Police Commission has selected Honolulu Police Maj. Benjamin Moszkowicz as the new top cop for Hawaii Island.
Commissioners voted 5-3 Friday during the panel’s monthly meeting in the County Council chambers in Hilo.
Commissioners voting to elect Moszkowicz were Dylan Andrion, Rod Quartararo, Rick Robinson, Pudding Lassiter and Vice Chairman Thomas Brown.
The three nay votes came from commissioners Denby Toci, Donna Springer and Anthony Sur.
Chairman John Bertsch recused himself after disclosing his “close friendship” with one of the finalists.
Moszkowicz was selected over three other finalists to succeed Paul Ferreira, who retired Aug. 31 after 40 years service in the Hawaii Police Department, six as chief. Kenneth Bugado Jr., Ferreira’s deputy chief, has since served as interim chief.
The three other finalists were: Kauai Police Capt. Paul Applegate, Hawaii Police Department Maj. Sherry Bird, and retired FBI agent Edward Ignacio.
The vote, which according to the agenda was to take place before the commission went into executive session to consider unrelated complaints by the public about officers, was postponed by motion until after the private session.
Five votes were needed to select the chief, and the commissioners’ first public vote Friday failed to do so, with Moszkowicz receiving votes from Andrion, Quatararo, Robinson and Brown.
Bird and Ignacio received two votes apiece, with Sur and Lassiter supporting Bird, while Toci and Springer voted for Ignacio.
Applegate, a Waiakea High School graduate, didn’t garner any votes from the commission.
Sur opined that Bird, second-in-command of the Area II Field Operations Bureau in West Hawaii, was the victim of unwarranted “negative press,” after the Tribune-Herald, West Hawaii Today and Honolulu media outlets reported that the commission questioned Bird, who lives in Kona, about a four-day stay in a hotel room at Courtyard by Marriott in Kailua-Kona, with the $1,953 tab paid for by the Ironman Triathlon. Bird was the incident commander for this year’s event, held in early October in West Hawaii.
Bird said she needed to be on scene, and the hotel room wasn’t a gift meant to influence her.
The Ironman also provided a less expensive comped room for Capt. Thomas Shopay, commander of the Area II Criminal Investigation Division in West Hawaii, who is Bird’s direct subordinate.
The Hawaii Police Department issued a statement saying the hotel rooms weren’t a gift but a “matter of public safety.”
Rank-and-file officers working 12-hour shifts at the Ironman had to drive to and from their homes — some in East Hawaii — to perform their duties.
Bertsch, whose term is up as chairman, is chief of security for the Ironman.
Toci, who publicly queried Bird on Tuesday in Kona about the hotel room and whether it violated the department’s general orders, said during the panel’s first vote on Friday that she wanted to support Bird in her quest to be the Big Island’s first woman chief.
Toci, however, ended up voting for Ignacio, a Laupahoehoe native, opining that the department was in need of “a fresh coat of paint.” Toci also said it was important to her that the new chief be from the Big Island and understand its people and culture.
Mayor Mitch Roth, who was the county’s elected prosecutor prior to becoming the county’s chief executive, said in a statement he knows all four finalists, including Moszkowicz, who was in charge of the Honolulu Police Department’s Traffic Division.
Having worked with Chief Benjamin Moszkowicz for over 15 years on numerous traffic safety committees, I can confidently say that he’s an intelligent guy who works very well with others,” Roth said. “I’m excited to continue our work together as we build upon the incredible foundation of community-minded policing laid by former chief Ferreira and Acting Chief Bugado.
“I would also like to commend the commission on the diligent work done to narrow the candidates to such a great group of individuals. It takes a lot to want to be considered for the position, as it does to narrow such a qualified pool, and so I extend my sincerest mahalo to all of the candidates and the commissioners who participated in the tedious process.”
Before the commission adjourned Friday, it elected Brown as its new chairman and Toci as vice chair. Brown will be chairman for only a couple of months, as his term is set to expire early next year.
The next police commission meeting will beat 9 a.m. Jan. 20 at the West Hawaii Civic Center in Kailua-Kona.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.