Police Officer Keith Tadashi Hashimoto

I was Keith's sergeant when he was newly hired at the Washoe Sheriff's Office. At the time I had just started working graveyard in Detention after been promoted from Detectives. The few months I worked Detention before going back to the street I had the pleasure of frequently working with Keith.. I also had John Bohach on that first graveyard shift (he later was killed in the line of duty as well). Keith was an outstanding young deputy (as was John). Keith was smart, hard working and always eager to learn about law enforcement. He desperately wanted to work the street as soon as he could and later hired on with the Reno PD. Of the dozens of deputies that I supervised Keith was one of the best I ever worked with. He excelled at everything he did. At shift briefings he would often volunteer to present important briefs on the law and or police tactics. I just cannot say enough about how proud I was to see Keith join Reno SWAT and to excel once he got onto the street, despite the fact it was a different agency. Keith had a great future and was one of the best men/officers that I've known in my now long career. I would hope that his family knows how highly regarded he was and that he was an exceptional policeman and was only getting better. Despite being in a different agency I still saw him around quite a bit and once told him how much we missed him when he went to Reno PD. He laughed and thanked me. When he was killed in the SWAT related accident it was a untold tragedy for all. I thank Keith for his sacrifice and his exceptional service to our community. He was one of the best!

James Lopey, Assistant Sheriff (Ret)
Washoe County Sheriff's Office (Reno, Nevada)
Nevada DPS and US Army (509th Airborne)

July 31, 2019