Originally Posted by Mr. Mike View Post
Strictly speaking, what you say above is true, but...

From H5O FAQ:

Is there a real "Hawaii Five-O" -- a state police agency?
No. Guidebooks have to keep telling tourists that Hawaii does not and never did have a state police force. According to Karen Rhodes,a "Five-O"-style police unit was proposed by governor John Burns (who was in office from 1962-1973), but apparently didn't get anywhere, possibly because the legislature didn't want to fund it or for some other reason. Leonard Freeman had a conversation with the governor, who told Freeman of the idea, and that's where the idea for the series came from.
Ah ok, didn’t know about that tidbit.