Officer Kevin Brodie was named as Hawaii Police Department’s Hawaii State Law Enforcement Officials Association 2019 Officer of the Year.
Brodie is a 10-year veteran patrol officer in the South Hilo District and is also a member of the Special Response Team, the department’s SWAT unit. Maj. Samuel Jelsma nominated Brodie for the award based on his “valor, quick reflexes and lifesaving skills” to help save a sergeant wounded during a shootout with a cop killer on July 20, 2018.
Following the July 17, 2018, murder of Officer Bronson Kaliloa, the SRT was activated as part of a task force given the responsibility of capturing Kaliloa’s killer, Justin Waiki.
On July 20, 2018, the task force tracked down the fugitive on South Point Road in Ka‘u and set up a checkpoint. That afternoon, a silver Toyota 4-Runner driven by a man with two female passengers was flagged down and stopped at the roadblock.
The rear hatch of the SUV was opened by Sgt. Bryan Tina, who began clearing its storage area. Waiki, who was concealed under a blanket, fired a handgun, striking Tina’s upper torso.
Brodie and two other SRT officers returned fire, killing Waiki. None of the three accomplices in the passenger compartment of the vehicle were injured. A fourth accomplice, a woman found concealed under the blanket with Waiki, sustained a gunshot wound to the leg.
After the shooting, Brodie administered what police described as “lifesaving first aid treatment” to Tina who, despite wearing a bulletproof vest, sustained a gunshot wound to his chest and another in the arm. Brodie applied a tourniquet to Tina’s arm before a Hawaii Fire Department helicopter arrived to airlift him to Hilo Medical Center.
The prestigious award was presented Sept. 20 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Kapalua, Maui, during the 66th Annual HSLEOA Awards Banquet.