When Honolulu Police Maj. Benjamin Moszkowicz is sworn in on Jan. 17 as chief of the Hawaii Police Department, he’ll be Big Island’s first top cop who wasn’t born in Hawaii.
In addition, the 46-year-old Moszkowicz, who was born in Toledo, Ohio, will be only the second Hawaii County police chief who wasn’t promoted from the Big Island department’s ranks. The first was Victor Vierra, who served from 1988 to 1994. He, like Moszkowicz, came from Honolulu.
“I didn’t really go into the process thinking that I was a finalist or that I was a front runner, so it’s a very humbling experience having the Police Commission put their trust in me,” Moszkowicz said last week. “I know they don’t all necessarily trust me yet, but I look at that as an opportunity to win people over, to win their trust and to form collaborative partnerships there and also to advance what the police department is trying to do.”
The son of a career Navy man, Moszkowicz came to Oahu at age 21. He served in the Honolulu department for 22 years, where his command posts included the Traffic Division, Criminal Investigation Division and Human Resources Division where — according to his website “Meet Major Ben” — he “was responsible for all aspects of recruiting, Equal Opportunity investigations, and Human Resources administration and served as the Administrative Services Officer for nearly 2,500 department employees.”
Recruitment has long been an issue here. As of Dec. 14, the Hawaii Police Department has 424 officers and 63 vacancies. Moszkowicz told commissioners on Dec. 12 that law enforcement “does a really poor job of selling ourselves.”
“I could lay five or six ideas on you that I’ve seen other departments do but I don’t want to be that guy who just comes in and wrecks shop,” Moszkowicz told the Tribune-Herald when asked how he’d improve recruitment. “I would rather get my feet on the ground and see what works here — what kind of relationship does the department have with journalists and people in media and social media and find out how we can continue to build those relationships. And maybe at the same time, infuse some ideas such as a citizen’s police academy or some sort of ride-along program where we can have journalists ride along with officers and talk to officers in an unfiltered way.
“I think understanding what officers go through on a regular basis helps to build relationships, first of all, and compassion for the sort of work that they’re doing, which then hopefully helps to support or strengthen the narrative that the police are the community and … just happen to have a specific job that sometimes gives people what they need instead of what they want.”
Moszkowicz has committed to appointing a deputy chief from within the department, but has yet to make a decision on his second in command.
“I’m hoping that by the time I get sworn in, that I will be, if not all the way to a decision then close to a decision of who I think can help move the department forward,” he said.
The Hawaii County police chief earns $153,270 a year. Unlike many in the department, the chief doesn’t receive overtime pay or paid special duty assignments. Moszkowicz acknowledged he’s taking a pay cut to accept the job, and he’ll have to move his family here, as well. His and his wife, Honolulu attorney Rebecca Lester, have two sons, ages 14 and 12.
Asked why he’d take a job that comes with a pay cut and a move, Moszkowicz referred to lessons learned while earning a bachelor’s degree in public administration and a master’s in law enforcement and public safety.
“I started to realize that maybe the way police departments in America and even in Hawaii were doing things in a way that is completely outdated. And it underserves the community,” he said. “And so I felt like, you know, the skill set I’ve been able to develop both professionally and academically would lend itself well to helping the community on the Big Island.”
Historically, police chiefs in Hawaii have had sole discretion to issue concealed carry gun permits, and on the Big Island, few have been granted to private citizens. That changed when U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution gives law-abiding citizens without serious mental health issues the right to carry a concealed firearm. According to Moszkowicz, there will be a learning curve as more citizens legally carry weapons.
“We’re going to have to train officers that having a firearm on your person is no longer necessarily a crime,” Moszkowicz said. “We’re going to have to get the message out that officers are going to encounter these folks — on a very rare basis, because they’re law abiding folks with little to no mental health issues. So if the system works correctly, we shouldn’t see, I think, a huge rash of incidents.
“Now, aside from that, I find it very odd that each county chief can develop their own criteria and training and license people to carry here on the Big Island and not on Oahu, or on Oahu but not on Kauai. So I think the state probably has some level of responsibility and I would hope they would take some sort of responsibility and develop a standardized method and/or take concealed carry out of the hands of the county chiefs. I don’t think any of us want it. And have the state develop administratively some across-the-board standard they can communicate with the public and the department.”
Hawaii has decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana by adults and there is a push by some to legalize adult recreational use, as has been done in 20 states plus Washington, D.C.
“OK, if that’s what the Legislature allows,” Moszkowicz said. “But that’s an informed decision, and the state’s got to understand that if they make that decision, there are other ancillary costs. There are costs in terms of traffic fatalities … there are all kinds of societal costs that come along with that.
“Plus the fact that you’re going to be opening a bunch of cash-only businesses which may subject a bunch of our community members to the potential for crime or organized crime,” he added, referring to dispensaries, which can’t accept credit or debit cards because marijuana possession is still a federal offense.
“I’m all for supporting people’s rights under the law. I just would just urge the Legislature to really take a look at the societal costs and educational costs that have come along in other places that have done the same thing.”
Moszkowicz produced a YouTube video on best practices for police in dealing with civil disobedience. He praised how local authorities reacted to activists who blocked Maunakea Access Road in July 2019 to stop construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope, “touching heads (with protesters) and sharing a cultural moment and a cultural experience, and them proceeding with whatever needed to happen afterwards.”
That included the arrest of 38 kupuna, who call themselves kia‘i, or protectors of the mountain. Charges were later dropped. But the demonstrations, paused during the pandemic, could re-occur if construction plans move forward.
“Unless the management of the observatories changes or there is some sort of policy change, there’s going to be attempted re-development or development, and that’s going to be met with the same sort of protests that we saw the last time,” Moszkowicz said. “And that’s something that as the police chief I’m committed to protecting the rights of those folks to peaceably express their grievances. That’s right out of the First Amendment, right?
“With that, there’s a need to balance the ability of government to carry out its normal course of action. And with that comes the potential to make arrests.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.