A Māʻili parent started advocating for School Resource Officers at Nānākuli High and Intermediate School nearly three years ago. Today, the Hawaiʻi Department of Education and Honolulu Police Department announced the expansion of a pilot program to place three School Resource Officers at Nānākuli High and Intermediate School for the 2026-2027 school year.
Neighborhood Roots
Kaui Asinsin was working as a security attendant at her alma mater and chlildrenʻs school, Nānākuli High and Intermediate School, when she went to the Nānākuli-Māʻili neighborhood board and asked for help. She reported that she broke up fights every single day and students felt unsafe at the school.
“The number of fights that we were having was outrageous,” she said to Aloha State Daily. “There was no accountability and it just continued to happen.”
Asinsin saw the positive impact School Resource Officers made at schools in Washington where two of her children attended and suggested bringing SRO’s to Nānākuli.
Paul Aio, a former neighborhood board member and retired police officer, told Aloha State Daily that he got teary eyed when he heard Asinsinʻs plea.
Aio worked at Honolulu Police Department and King County Sheriffs Office in Washington for a combined 43 years. He said he saw firsthand the issue at the school after witnessing a fight after a kūpuna day.
Asinsin met with City and County of Honolulu Councilmember Andria Tupola, Rep. Darius Kila, former Sen. Maile Shimabukuro and former neighborhood board chair and current Sen. Samantha DeCorte. Tupola introduced a resolution in January 2025 urging the police and education departments to introduce School Resource Officers to West Oʻahu high schools.
Asinsin and Aio said that they were disappointed that SROs were introduced at other West Oʻahu high schools prior to Nānākuli, and celebrated the pilot program at Nānākuli on Friday.
“My kids are no longer here but I’ll still fight for it because this is my home, this is where I’m from and this is where I want to see protected so our kids can thrive and succeed,” she said. Asinsin added that SROs contribute to a sense of belonging and community at the school, in addition to a feeling of safety.
The Hawaiʻi State Department of Education and Honolulu Police Department introduced the pilot School Resource Officer program at Kaimukī, Waiʻanae and Kapolei high schools in January.
Officials announced Friday morning at a press conference in Nānākuli that the pilot program at the first three high schools will continue in the 2026-2027 school year and will expand to Nānākuli High and Intermediate School.
The counties of Maui, Kauaʻi and Hawaiʻi Island currently staff School Resource Officers in secondary schools.
The goal of the pilot program is to create safe learning environments, introduce students to positive role models and provide career guidance. School Resource Officers are sworn police officers in the reserve program that are armed and authorized to carry out arrests.
The cost to pay the officers comes to about $1 million funded by the City and County of Honolulu.
Superintendent Keith Hiyashi said during a press conference Friday, “We look forward to building on this partnership as we continue working together to strengthen our schools, provide positive mentorship for our students and ensure every campus is a safe and welcoming place where students can learn, grow and succeed.”
For Chief David Lazar, putting officers in schools is personal. Lazar said Friday that he grew up in San Francisco public schools and that without a father in his home, police officers were his mentors and kept him out of trouble to get him to where he is today.
Officer George Silva, a SRO at Waiʻanae High School who has been with HPD for 35 years, told Aloha State Daily that serving as a School Resource Officer is his way of giving back to his community.
Silva said that at Waiʻanae, officers welcome students and parents at morning drop off, interact with students during school hours, eat with students at lunch and attend after-school activities and special events. Officers teach classes on safety, cybersecurity, pedestrian safety and drug awareness.
Nānākuli High and Intermediate School Principal Moani Nahulu-Mahelona welcomed officers Melvin Andres, Gerald Reyes and Brian Santos to West Oʻahu.
Nahulu-Mahelona worked as a assistant principal at Kapolei High school last year and said that the introduction of SROs made an immediate and profound positive impact on campus.
“Our families entrust us with their greatest treasures, their children, and keeping them safe, nurtured and smart is a kuleana we hold close to our hearts,” she said.
According to Honolulu Police Department, Kaimukī, Kapolei and Waiʻanae high schools experienced a 8%, 20% and 25% drop respectively in student behavior incidents since SROs were introduced.
Haley Lehman can be reached at haley@alohastatedaily.com.
