Police begin torch run for Special Olympics

State Attorney General Mark Bennett, center left, and Honolulu Police Department Deputy Chief Paul Putzulu, center right, joined dozens of other law enforcement officers yesterday in the Troy Barboza Law Enforcement Torch Run. Bennett lit the "Flame of Hope" from the Eternal Flame at City Hall. The three-day event raises more than $150,000 annually for the Special Olympics. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

Advertiser Staff

The Troy Barboza Law Enforcement Torch Run, a prelude to Special Olympics Hawai'i's 36th annual State Summer Games, got under way yesterday as 150 officers ran from the Honolulu Police Department's main station to Tamarind Park carrying the Flame of Hope, lit by Attorney General Mark Bennett.

The event raises more than $150,000 annually for Special Olympics.

The 19th annual statewide run, sponsored by First Hawaiian Bank, will continue today from First Hawaiian Bank in Kahuku to the Turtle Bay Hilton. More than 30 law enforcement officers will run the 3.5 miles.

Tomorrow at 6 p.m., officers will bear the torch into Les Murakami Stadium after running from Fort DeRussy through Waikiki and into the University of Hawai'i's Manoa campus. There, they will light the cauldron and officially open the State Summer Games.

More than 800 athletes will march into the stadium as part of the official opening.

Special Olympics Hawai'i offers year-round sports training and athletic competition to children and adults with disabilities.

More than 1,500 athletes from around the state participate in the program.

Officer Barboza was shot to death by a drug dealer in 1987.