2022-10-21 Police Commission Regular Minutes

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Hawaii Police Commission Regular Session Minutes October 21, 2022 Page 5 Commissioner Quartararo asked how many police communications officers there are. AC Quiocho stated they're constantly recruiting, they're short-handed, and currently have a new class of six. He advised him to ask AC Burian for the exact number, but he's guessing they have about 25-30 total dispatchers. • Traffic Report: Assistant Chief Basque reported on October 10, 2022, the following traffic statistics were recorded for September 2022 in comparison to September 2021: traffic crashes are at 231, compared to 208. Traffic fatalities are at 8, compared to 6, and DUI fatalities are at 3 compared to 5. DUI arrests are at 226 compared to 217. DUI arrests in September are 80 compared to 66 in August. For the month of September 2022, a total of 4,555 citations were issued: 3,258 for moving/regulatory, 362 for seat belts, 29 for child restraint, and 906 for speeding. Commissioner Robinson said looking at the statistics, Kohala seems to be an area where traffic crashes occur. Looking at cell phone citations issued, South Kohala has a very high number of citations issued. He wanted to know if there's any correlation between cell phone citations and major traffic crashes. AC Basque stated there probably is a correlation. South Kohala always has high enforcement rates for traffic. Traffic is proactive policing. When an officer has time and isn't responding to calls for service, they should be running traffic or doing proactive policing. He further noted that South Kohala is a low-crime district and a high proactive district. Commissioner Lassiter wanted to know if there are any laws requiring motorcyclists to use helmets. AC Basque stated that helmets are not required for motorcycles, it's suggested. Commissioner Quartararo stated that earbuds shouldn't be allowed while driving because it's a distraction. AC Basque stated that the law allows for it, it's not enforceable, and it's a choice. • Personnel Report: Assistant Chief Burian reported as of October 15, 2022, there are 58 actual sworn vacancies, 71 in the field, and 13 in the pipeline in various stages. For police communication officers, there are 28 positions that are filled, and 11 vacant. A class of six started recently and they will be conducting four interviews today for the next class. All the supervising police communication officer positions are filled, they have a total of five supervisors in the center. As of October 15, 2022, 426 of 484 sworn positions were filled (88%) and 128 out of 155 civilian positions were filled (82.6%). • Police Recruitment Activities: The 94t" police recruit class started on June 1, 2021, and they are on the road (solo). The 95t" recruit class has six currently in field training and will be going solo on November 1, 2022. The 96t" recruit class is in academic training until December 31, 2022, it's a class of seven at this point. Recruitment for the next recruit class (97t") ran early in the year. A total of 250 applied, 141 took the written, 76