Kokua Line
Kokua Line
Question: I was stationed at Naval Air Station Barbers Point from 1957 to 1960. During that period there was a military organization named HASP (Hawaiian Armed Services Police). What ever happened to this outfit? Do you have any files pertaining to HASP? Military police group
still here but smallerAnswer: Many people -- including those in the military -- don't realize that HASP is still around. That's because the organization, which used to be highly visible and active in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, is basically just a notification operation these days.
"Most of HASP went away," said Dennis Morris, operations officer for the Fort Shafter Military Police Station.
"Before Hawaii became a state, it was a very large operation that patrolled and worked closely with Honolulu police," he recalled. Members had distinctive uniforms and patrolled Honolulu in Jeeps with "Hawaiian Armed Services Police" emblazoned across the front of the vehicles (as shown in a photo in the Honolulu Police Department Museum).
But in the last 10 or 15 years, HASP's role has dwindled to being a liaison and reporting agency. HASP doesn't do "active patrolling or criminal processing of a case," Morris said.
A HASP officer is stationed in the central receiving area of HPD's main police station and notifies the appropriate military command whenever HPD arrests a military member.
The Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps take turns providing minimal staffing at HPD, Morris said. "It's a low-key operation."
HASP also shares an administrative office with military police at Fort DeRussy, he said.
Although all the services are involved, the Army has administrative oversight because it provides supplies and an office, Morris said.
The military doesn't appear to have any centrally located archival information on HASP's history, according to various people we spoke with. In HPD's museum, Officer Eddie Croom, the curator, has fashioned a small HASP exhibit, noting that archival information was scarce.
But if you want to get a historical look at HPD, visit the museum, located on the first floor of HPD's main headquarters at 801 S. Beretania St. It is open to the public from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday. You can also have scheduled tours for seven or more people. Call 529-3351 to arrange a tour.
Besides chronicling the various chiefs and colorful officers over the decades, there are lots of police memorabilia -- badges, weapons, photos, hats. There's an old okolehao still; a "Hanger Drunkometer," the department's original breath test analyzer back in 1938; cockfighting scabbards; gambling paraphernalia and a copy of a 1946 story proclaiming "Honolulu is a gambling town."
It's a fascinating look at what Croom says is "the most unique police department in the U.S., with quite a history."
Auwe
To park-users at Manoa Recreation Center who have no respect at all for the park by parking all over the grass. -- No name
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