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HAWAI`I POLICE COMMISSION <br /> REGULAR SESSION MINUTES <br /> OCTOBER 21, 2022 <br /> HAWAFI COUNTY BUILDING, COUNCIL CHAMBERS <br /> 25 AUPUNI ST., SUITE 1401, HILO, HI <br /> CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL <br /> Chair Bertsch called the meeting to order at 9:10 a.m. <br /> Present: John Bertsch, Chair <br /> Pudding Lassiter, Commissioner <br /> Rod Quartararo, Commissioner <br /> Rick Robinson, Commissioner <br /> Donna Springer, Commissioner <br /> Anthony Sur, Commissioner <br /> Absent: Thomas Brown, Vice Chair <br /> Denby Toci, Commissioner <br /> A quorum was present. <br /> Also present: Kenneth Bugado Jr., Acting Police Chief <br /> Chad Basque, Assistant Chief <br /> Andrew Burian, Assistant Chief <br /> Kenneth Quiocho, Assistant Chief <br /> Miles Chong, Captain <br /> Dakota Frenz, Deputy Corporation Counsel <br /> Charisse Correa, Secretary <br /> STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS <br /> • Roger Christie came before the commission to speak on the next chief of police. He <br /> expressed his gratitude for the service that the Hawaii Police Department provides. He <br /> passed out handouts, one with a quote from US Attorney, Ed Kubo stating "we're not <br /> proud of it. But crystal methamphetamine is our gift to the nation. It started here." He <br /> also shared a study from years ago, which stated that anti-pot efforts boost ice use, <br /> which drove up the price of marijuana. Mr. Christie stated it's a failure on "we the <br /> people" and feels the Police Commission is also responsible, as it oversees the <br /> department. He states that the department and legislature continued the eradication <br /> program, which led to opioid, and fentanyl use. He feels as if criminals are being <br /> cultivated here due to bad policies and something needs to be done to figure out what's <br /> going wrong and how to correct it going into the future. He said that $78 million in <br /> funding was put into the fentanyl issue here and he's concerned that it might be <br /> another mistake going forward unless the marijuana eradication program is cleaned up. <br /> Mr. Christie stated going forward, he hopes to have a "non-vaxxed" chief of police, <br /> someone that respects medical and religious exemptions for "we the people." He stated <br /> there will most likely be another pandemic in the future and we need to do better than <br />