LIHU‘E — Anyone wishing to thank Kaua‘i Police Chief Darryl Perry for returning to his home island should give a nod to his deceased son. Erikson Kapuni Perry, who died when he was 26 years old and would have turned
LIHU‘E — Anyone wishing to thank Kaua‘i Police Chief Darryl Perry for returning to his home island should give a nod to his deceased son.
Erikson Kapuni Perry, who died when he was 26 years old and would have turned 33 this year, is the reason the chief is here now and why he fought for and accepted the KPD’s top position, Perry said in an e-mail.
“Of everything that has happened in our lives, Kapuni was and still has the most influence in shaping our destiny,” Perry said.
“He was not able to do the things that others find it so easy to do because of his illness and while some may find it bizarre, I feel compelled to fulfill his wish of ‘helping people,’” the chief said.
“Shortly before his death he was having a bad episode and so I hugged and tried to comfort him by saying that things were going to be all right, then he turned to me and said, ‘Dad, I just want to help people..’
“So if it wasn’t for him, the short of it is that Solette (Perry’s wife) and I would not be here on Kaua‘i today, and I would not be the chief of police,” Perry said.
Perry, 59, said on Friday that he is applying to be the chief of the Honolulu Police Department, where he worked for 28 years before coming to Kaua‘i in October 2007. The chief said in a story Saturday that as HPD chief he would be able to better help KPD become accredited.
