Hawaiʻi Police Department
Office of the Chief
Police Chief Paul K. Ferreira
Phone: (808) 961-2244
Media Release
Officer Wyatt Kaili-Leong an 8-year veteran of the Hawaiʻi Police Department and Recruit Officer Sayaaii’i Baker who is in his second month of recruit field training are being honored as the Aloha Exchange Club’s July 2019 Officers of the Month.
Officer Kaili-Leong is a Field Training Officer who is training Recruit Officer Baker. Both officers have been selected based on their outstanding work in investigating felony crimes, their attention to detail and their ability to recollect information to tie-in suspects and crimes often leading to arrests and charges.
At the beginning of (July) Officers conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle after observing a traffic violation. The vehicle was later recognized by officers as being the possible suspect vehicle seen in surveillance footage from a previous Burglary at a school that was reported about nine days earlier. During the contact with the occupants, the driver retrieved an item from within the vehicle which Officer Baker recognized as one of the items reported stolen in the burglary. Officers then recognized other items that matched the descriptions of items reported in a separate burglary at the same school reported earlier on the day of the traffic stop. All items were positively identified to belong to the school and that the occupants did not have permission to remove them. The driver and the passenger were arrested for Burglary 2 and Theft 4. The driver was later charged for two counts of second-degree burglary.
On (July 17) Officer Kaili-Leong assisted in processing another officer’s arrestee when he observed him to have a reusable thermal bag with frozen goods. It was later learned that the arrestee was seen running from a property in Hawaii Paradise Park. Kaili-Leong remembered that he and another recruit initiated a burglary in June where food items were stolen. Officer Baker contacted the victim where the arrestee was seen to run from and confirmed that the reusable bag with frozen goods was taken from her attached garage without permission. Officer Kaili-Leong used his experience and interviewing skills, which led to the arrestee admitting to three burglary reports. The arrestee was subsequently charged with three counts of Burglary, three counts of Theft 4, three counts of habitual property crimes, and two counts of Criminal Property Damage. Total bail set was $110,000.
Officer Kaili-Leong is committed to providing his recruit officer with work experience in all facets of the job. Although the workload may be time-consuming, Officer Kaili-Leong consistently takes on investigations from start to finish.
Officer Sayaali’i Baker reflects his commitment to learning and improving his job skills to become a full-fledged solo Officer exemplifying the Hawaiʻi Police Department Core Values of Integrity, Professionalism, Compassion, Teamwork, and Community Satisfaction.
