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Fighting terror, Making Hawaii safe by beefing up the war against terrorism, illegal drugs and violent crime will be the top priorities of the U.S. Attorney's Office, says Hawaii's top federal prosecutor.
drugs among new
U.S. attorney’s goals
Edward Kubo Jr. is sworn in
as federal attorney for HawaiiBy Debra Barayuga
dbarayuga@starbulletin.comEdward Kubo Jr., 48, a Waipahu High graduate and an assistant U.S. attorney for 11 years, was sworn in yesterday as Hawaii's U.S. attorney in a ceremony in U.S. District Court before several hundred people that included family, colleagues and former mentors.
He succeeds Steve Alm, who held the post for seven years but resigned after being appointed to a Circuit Court judgeship in March.
"I am so honored, so pleased and so humbled by the fact that I never in my wildest dreams as a boy knew I would be here," he said before the ceremony. "It's really an American dream."
His father, a career Army man who fought in the Korean and Vietnam wars, and his mother, a housewife, both never finished college but always exhorted him that he would go far if he applied himself, worked hard and showed compassion to others, he said.
He said he is proud to be the first product of Hawaii's public schools to become Hawaii's U.S. attorney.
"I also understand the burden and responsibility on me in this unprecedented time in history is an awesome and heavy one, and I am humbled by that," he said.
Fear still lingers since the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, and the world is still struggling to return to normal. That is why he has to approach his job differently than his predecessors, he said.
Kubo said his highest priority would be addressing terrorism and that he will be coordinating intelligence efforts by federal and state law enforcement agencies in the Pacific and sharing information with Washington "so that whatever happened on Sept. 11 never happens again, not here in Hawaii or in the United States," he said.
He also will be pushing for safer neighborhoods by more aggressive prosecution of anyone possessing or using illegal firearms, and removal of "violent criminal predators" from the community.
"Many of these predators we hear of every day in the news are arrested, and we hear they had 40 prior arrests," he said. "We need to bring those people into federal court, and they need to be federally sentenced so the public can be safe."
He also wants to establish a larger presence in drug interdiction by working closely with neighbor island police, prosecutors and other law enforcement agencies to take down narcotics organizations and bring in cases that involve a larger number of defendants.
Lastly, he expects to play a bigger role in assisting the tourism industry with rooting out violent predators who can hurt the state's efforts to promote Hawaii.
"Hawaii must be both a safe place to live and a safe place to visit," he said.
Federal public defender Peter Wolff said Kubo is highly qualified after serving as an assistant U.S. attorney for more than a decade and devoting his professional life to prosecuting.
"We expect he will be a professional federal prosecutor, and that's a good thing," Wolff said.