DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Sgt. Milton Andrade and his father, police commissioner and former policeman Boyd Andrade Sr., pose for a picture outside HPD headquarters on South Beretania Street. Andrade Sr. has two sons, Milton and Boyd Jr., on the police force.
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Generations of police
Four Andrade men have worn the badge of the Honolulu force
Three generations of Andrade men have put in almost a century's worth of service to the Honolulu Police Department.
But it's a family tradition that almost ended when Boyd Andrade Sr. nearly left the force after making his first arrest in 1949, at age 21.
The rookie officer received a call about a disorderly drunk in the Chinatown area. He recalled pushing the suspect against the wall, but forgetting to handcuff the suspect.
The drunk broke free and fled.
"I watch the television, and the officers go, 'Halt, in the name of the law,' so I said that," Andrade said, shaking his head. "He turned right around and gave me the bird."
Andrade made the arrest anyway, but went back to his lieutenant and turned in his badge and gun in frustration. He talked with his superior for about 40 minutes before deciding to take his badge back. He didn't retire until 1975.
Sons Boyd Jr. and Milton followed in their father's footsteps.
Milton, now a 58-year-old police sergeant with about 30 years' experience, is glad to be able to talk with his father about work.
During their chats, Boyd Sr. would cite his own experience and urge his son to push forward.
"He would comfort me in ways only a father and son can relate to," Milton said. "It's tough out there. It's so stressful, sometimes the other cops will end up at the bar. I say, 'I don't think so.' I just go to my dad."
The Andrade family has a history with the police department that stretches back to Boyd Sr.'s father, Manuel Andrade, who served three years on the force. Manuel was among the officers who discovered Joe Kahahawai's body during the infamous Massie case of 1932.
During that racially charged case, Thalia Massie, a Navy wife, accused Kahahawai and four other local men of rape. They were found innocent. But Masie's mother, Grace Fortescue, husband Lt. Thomas Massie and two Navy enlisted men beat Kahahawai to death. After a sensational trial and conviction, the four served a one-hour sentence in the territorial governor's office.
Boyd Jr. and Milton said they grew up learning to respect the police department and their father.
"Me and my brothers would always clean his car, it was a subsidized vehicle for the department," Milton said. "While we're doing that, we'll go near the police radio and hear all the calls. As a young teenager, I was inspired by that."
Boyd Jr., 59, said he remembers seeing Boyd Sr. put on his pressed police uniform every day.
But Boyd Jr., who retired as a sergeant in 2000, said he wanted to "give it my own shot," and did not want to be compared to his father.
"I just wanted to see what I was made of," he said. "There's no way I was going to fill my dad's shoes."
Now a police commissioner, Boyd Sr. said he's glad he's once again involved with police work, if only at a policy level.
"The department is my home away from home," Boyd Sr. said. "It gives me chances to work with the guys more closely. It's the top of the world for me."
The elder Andrade said that although his sons sought advice from him, he wanted them to find their own way.
"They had their own visions and own values, and when they became policemen, I was real proud of them," he said. "We sit down, we chat. We might disagree with each other, but that's the value of having sons."