Former Maui police chief Howard Tagomori called tough, progressive

Howard Hikaru Tagomori, the former Maui police chief remembered for his relentless pursuit of improvement and whose samurai demeanor came with a quick wit and kind heart, died Friday at the age of 82.

Born and raised on Maui, the 1958 graduate of Baldwin High School served three years in the U.S. Army after graduation before beginning his 35-year career in county law enforcement at the Honolulu Police Department on March 16, 1963.

Three years later he returned to Maui to work for the Maui Police Department on Dec. 1, 1966. Tagomori was promoted to sergeant in August of 1971 and was named the Maui County Police Officer of the Year in 1975.

After leadership roles in narcotics/vice, the Molokai and Lahaina police districts and a seven-year run as a deputy chief, Tagomori was appointed chief of MPD on March 25, 1988.

Following his retirement after a decade as Maui’s top officer in 1998, on July 22 of that year Tagomori was nominated by President Bill Clinton to serve as the U.S. marshal for the District of Hawaii. He was confirmed by a voice vote in the U.S. Senate on July 31, 1998, and held the position until his four-year term ended in 2002.

The late chief was remembered as a character and lauded by colleagues for running a policy-driven institution and recognizing the need to integrate science and technology with policing.

Thomas Phillips, who served as Maui police chief for more than a decade during his 33-year career with the department, met Tagomori as a rookie in 1976. After training, Tagomori selected Phillips to work undercover as a narcotics/vice officer.

“He’s kind of different because he was old school yet he was super progressive,” said Phillips, in an interview with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “As chief, as a leader, he was constantly looking for better. He was never satisfied with status quo, even if everything was wonderful.

“He was very tough. But he was very compassionate. He’s actually a really nice guy but he could come across really tough. He could bring you in and rip you up and down, and 10 minutes later he’d be praising you. And you deserved the up and down, too. You deserved it. But then he was going to bring you back.”

Phillips said Tagomori was a crazy, funny guy but very smart and always thinking one step ahead.

He credited him with being early to embrace the concept of community policing. Tagomori helped guide Phillips’ career and to learn the skills needed to manage the day-to-day operations of a police department. That guidance included assigning Phillips the task of leading the rewriting of every general order in the department.

“He sent me to training in San Francisco. At the time I was like ‘ah crap, this isn’t any fun.’ I came from vice where I was kicking in doors and jumping through windows and now I got to sit in an office and write policy?,” said Phillips. “I learned a lot. It was huge. Later on in my career … when I became deputy chief, it was a benefit to have gone through all of that.”

Phillips said everyone who knew Tagomori misses him and called him one of the greatest guys to golf with after he retired.

“He golfed every day and he never got any better,” said Phillips, laughing at the memory. “He’s loud and he swears and by the 18th hole he says he is never golfing again and the next day he would go again.”

Gary Yabuta, former Maui police chief and the current director of the Hawaii High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, told the Star-Advertiser that Tagomori was the deputy chief of MPD when he interviewed with him as an officer applicant in 1983.

Tagomori developed a science-­based law enforcement agency “when no other police chiefs or departments imagined” it.

Tagomori knew the importance of a policy-driven institution and achieved accreditation from the Commission for Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies for the Maui Police Department, the first law enforcement agency in Hawaii to achieve it, Yabuta said.

He said Tagomori’s “wisdom, leadership and guidance” were critical to his career in law enforcement.

“If not for Chief Tagomori and his wisdom, leadership and guidance, I would not be able to convey my thoughts publicly, and certainly not have had the great police career and ‘after-life’ in fighting drug trafficking today. He developed a science-based law enforcement agency when no other police chiefs or departments imagined,” said Yabuta. “He was stern when he needed to be … but never over the top. He had no prejudice in his veins and reached out to those who were new to Hawaii culture. His character was samurai and yet he had the compassion of a monk.”

Tagomori never wanted credit for his efforts, Yabuta said. He wanted to see others “stand on the platform of (Tagomori’s) achievement and leadership.”

Yvonne Ching, who worked with Tagomori for 15 years while he was deputy chief and then chief, remembered a “witty and brilliant” man who loved the department and inspired colleagues to work hard. Tagomori earned the trust of his staff who were “very supportive of him,” said Ching.

“He was my boss but you know what? He was also my friend,” said Ching.

Kekuhaupio “Keku” Akana, Maui County’s managing director and former deputy police chief, told the Star-Advertiser in an interview that Tagomori was a great innovator and forward thinker. He pointed to the Commission for Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies accreditation and noted that many issues raised in the national debate on the future of policing could be addressed through adherence to the CALEA standards for a department.

“A common Maui boy from the plantation era of Maui who became one of our greatest leaders,” said Akana, when asked what he would remember about his friend and chief.

Tagomori is survived by his wife, Lorraine, son Reid, and daughter Kris.

Services are set for April 14 at Kahului Union Church. Viewing is from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m and 11 a.m. to noon. Burial to follow at Veterans Cemetery.