COM 0139.002 2002-2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

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4• Horace S. Nara, Chair r.°J' = ~ Dwight K. Manago, Vice Chan W': Harry Kim ` ~ " John M. Bertsch, Member Mayor Paul M de Silva, Member _ • Phoebe M. Lambeth, Member Be[sy Mitchell, Member ~~e_'M~~~ Walter Moe, Member Peter P. Muller, Member (~ulxnf~r of ~ttfuttii POLICE CObII~IISSION 25 Aupuni Street, Room 200 . Hilo, Hawaii 96720 Phone: (808) 961-8412 . Fax: (808) 961-8563 PRESENTATION TO HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL MARCH 14, 2003 (by Police Commission Vice Chair Dwight K. Manago) We, the Police Commission, would like to make the following recommendations to the County Council: 1) Allocate $200,000 to the training budget. 2) Allocate $500,000 to the new equipment budget. 3) Fund 10 training positions per year. 4) Fund 6 new positions for the special hard drug task force. We would also like to support the two capital improvement projects that the department deems necessary for the safety of our community: RECElypp 1) New Police Station for the Puna District. '~`I~""-~~~-eY- 2) New Police Station for the South Kona District. Coumyi~C,ouod~j In the past, all of the departments have been asked to cut their budgets so that our I county would not have to incur a heavy debt that would lower our financial rating. The Police Department, like all the other departments, have slashed their budget to the bare minimum and can no longer function effectively if we do not restore the essential needs of the department. Training is an essential function of the department that will help to prevent needless lawsuits and injuries to our officers. In recent years, the training budget has been slashed from $150,000 to $75,000 and the consequence of this is reflected by the types of complaints that the Police Commission has been receiving. Officers constantly need to be retrained to update them with ways of handling complaints from our citizens, safety matters, new policing techniques, and laws. The years of neglect in training due to the reduction in the training budget has escalated the need for the entire department to be trained or retrained in one area or another. In fiscal year 1997-1998, our new equipment budget was $463,262, currently it is $119,000. The department has seen its equipment budget reduced on a yearly basis even though the cost of equipment has steadily risen over the years. We have six blu Z and whites that are no longer in operable condition due to the fact that p(7~s Fik Int. To: Fir_,~ Itet. Date_~R 1 4 2003