Kona police host first Kupuna Day to connect with elders

More than 40 kūpuna walked into Kealakehe Police Station on July 17 for the Hawaii Police Department’s first Kupuna Day in Kona, giving the Kona Community Policing Section a public test of how it plans to keep elders connected to police services beyond a single event.

The department said the gathering was designed to build relationships with kūpuna through outreach, and the turnout showed there is immediate demand for that kind of access in West Hawaii. Kona’s first-ever Kupuna Day was not a standalone gesture: it sat inside the department’s wider community policing model, which places officers in every district on Hawaii Island to build partnerships through community mobilization, crime prevention efforts and problem solving.

That broader structure matters in Kona, where many older residents can have a harder time getting concerns in front of the right officer, especially when an issue does not rise to an emergency but still needs follow-up. By bringing elders directly to Kealakehe Police Station, police created a face-to-face setting where kūpuna could meet community policing officers and learn where to turn next.

The next measurable step is already on the calendar. Hawaii Police Department listings show a Kupuna Watch meeting in Captain Cook on March 24 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., a Kona Community Policing Section Kupuna Watch meeting on Jan. 21, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., and a Kona Kupuna Watch meeting set for May 13, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Those recurring meetings give the department a regular channel to keep elders informed after the one-day program ends.

The police department also points to HI-PAL, its islandwide youth program established in 1980, as part of a long-running approach to community outreach. In Kona, the first Kupuna Day added a new branch to that effort, but the real test will be whether the station keeps turning one-day contact into steady, scheduled access for the people who showed up.