This story has been updated with additional comments from the Hawaiʻi island police chief and Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi.

After emotional testimony from Hawaiʻi County Police Chief Ben Moszkowicz, police commissioners on the Big Island narrowly decided to force him out. 

Moszkowicz has been under fire from community members and the statewide police union since he tried to backtrack after submitting his resignation last month. 

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi recommended Moszkowicz for the role of interim chief on Oʻahu when he announced the retirement of Honolulu Police Department Chief Joe Logan on June 2. 

But the mayor does not have the power to select the interim chief, the Honolulu Police Commission does. 

Moszkowicz said he submitted his resignation prematurely by email to Hawaiʻi Police Commission Chair Rick Robinson on June 4. Moszkowicz was in Orlando at the time, attending an FBI training. 

He choked up as he explained to commissioners in Hilo on Thursday that he immediately realized he’d made a mistake. 

“In a few hours I said, ‘After further consideration, I would like to withdraw my resignation,’” he said, taking a pause to hold back tears. 

The eight-member police commission was tied with four members voting to let Mosckowicz withdraw his resignation and four voting against. But Chair Rick Robinson said the tie vote was not enough for the motion to move forward. 

“I’m sorry, chief,” he said to Mosckowicz after the vote was taken.

Apology Not Accepted

Even after requesting to rescind his resignation, Moszkowicz appeared at a Honolulu Police Commission meeting via video conference on June 18 to express interest in the interim chief position. He told commissioners there that if chosen, he would be “aggressively competing” for the permanent job.

After briefly interviewing eight candidates, commissioners selected Honolulu Police Deputy Chief Rade Vanic to serve as interim when Logan retires at the end of July. 

On June 26, Moszkowicz issued an apology to the Big Island community. He said his decision to resign was “premature” and reiterated his commitment to the county. 

“I pledge to remain the Chief of Police here for years to come,” the statement says. “I would love to stay here, as your chief, and would publicly commit to not applying to be the chief anywhere else.”

But some community members, as well as members of the state police union were not satisfied. 

Sean Phelan, chair of the union’s Hawaiʻi chapter, urged Hawaiʻi County police commissioners in a letter to not accept Moszkowicz’s plea to rescind his resignation. 

“Our position is based on a careful review of the facts, which reveal a course of conduct that has caused irreparable damage to the trust between the Chief and the dedicated members of the Hawaiʻi Police Department,” the letter said. 

At Thursday’s meeting, many community members testified in opposition to the chief, not only because of the resignation issue, but also because of their frustration over Hawaiʻi County police officers’ cooperation with federal immigration officials. 

Hawaiʻi County police commissioners interrogated Mosckowicz about how he planned to repair damaged relationships and rebuild trust on an island with roughly 200,000 people, many of whom have deep ties to the land. 

“My family has been here generations and generations,” Commissioner Lloyd Enriquez said. “We have a high level of integrity when we represent our family, our community, so our decisions that we make for us here reflects off of that.”

‘I Want To Live Here’

Moszkowicz was a finalist for the Honolulu chief position three years ago when Logan was ultimately hired. When Moszkowicz didn’t get the job, he left for the Big Island and was sworn in as chief in January 2023. 

He already faced challenges being accepted in Hawaiʻi County at the time. Some doubted that he really wanted to be there and felt he always had his eyes on returning to Honolulu, where he’d served as an officer for more than 20 years.

“A lot of people both on this commission and in the department felt that this role was a potential stepping stone,” Commissioner John Bertsch said. “And when the opportunity came it was an, ‘Aha, I finally got what I wanted. See you boys later.’” 

But Moszkowicz insisted that he remained committed to the Big Island. 

“I don’t want to live on Oʻahu, I want to live here,” he said. “I brought my family. I came over. We have a house here. My wife has a job that she loves. My kids have friends in school.” 

He described how challenging the ordeal has been for him and his family, particularly having the details play out in the media.

“The last six weeks have been the most difficult of my life,” he said, again through tears. “But really, if you give me the chance to stay, the hard work actually starts now.” 

Commission Chair Robinson placed some of the blame on Blangiardi for recommending Moszkowicz for the role in the first place. Blangiardi called Moszkowicz on May 30, days before Logan’s retirement was announced, and asked the Big Island chief to consider coming to Honolulu to serve as interim chief. 

“I wish Mayor Blangiardi had stayed in his own sandbox over there in Honolulu,” Robinson said.

Blangiardi said in a statement that he told Moszkowicz he was disappointed by the commission’s decision.

“I deeply respect his approach to policing and want to thank him for his 25 years of dedicated service in helping keep our communities on Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi island safe,” the statement says. “I feel badly that his desire to continue serving the people of Hawaiʻi ended this way.”

Commissioners Wendy Botelho, Lloyd Enriquez, Jacob Tavares and Greg Yamada voted not to accept Moszkowicz’s request to withdraw his recommendation. Robinson, Vice Chair John Bertsch and members Eileen Lacerte and Arthur Buckman voted to allow him to stay.

3 Of 4 Counties Lack Permanent Chiefs

After the vote, Moszkowicz said he still needed six weeks on the job before he could be eligible for retirement and asked the commission if he could stay on as chief until the end of August. Commissioners approved his request, and his last day will be Aug. 31.

Bertsch said the commission will have to decide at an upcoming meeting whether to hire an interim chief or allow Deputy Chief Reed Mahuna to take over. After that, the search for a new permanent chief will begin.

“I’m exhausted already,” he said.

The last chief search took around six months, Robinson said.

Bertsch said the process will be made more difficult by the fact that Honolulu and Kauaʻi counties are in the middle of their own searches.

“These are challenging times to find a chief executive officer,” he said.

After the commission meeting, Moszkowicz said that he hasn’t given much thought to what he will do next. His entire focus has been on trying to rebuild trust and stay on as chief on the Big Island, he said.

He said he aims to stay on the Big Island and find other work, and expressed uncertainty about whether he would still consider applying for the Honolulu chief position.

“I don’t think any windows are closed at the moment,” he said.

Moszkowicz said he was disappointed by the commission’s decision, pointing out that he’d received no criticism from commissioners about his leadership apart from the resignation incident. He noted the fact that he’s hired 94 new officers, which represents about a third of the department.

“The last six weeks notwithstanding, I think I have a really stellar record,” he said. “I had hoped that they could see past my blunder.”

State police union spokesman Dustin DeRollo said in a statement that with three of the state’s four departments now without police chiefs, the police commissions of Honolulu, Kauaʻi and Hawaiʻi counties have a responsibility to make better choices this time.

Commissioners must understand the complex and wide-ranging duties of a police chief, involve more stakeholders in the hiring process and base their selections on experience. Honolulu Police Chief Joe Logan, for example, had no police administrative experience before he was hired, DeRollo said.

“It’s not a surprise,” he said of the three chief vacancies. “We see these processes to select a chief done in near isolation from department employees, both sworn and non-sworn. We see value placed on essays versus an actual body of work.”