2022-12-13 Police Commission Regular Minutes

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Hawaii Police Commission Special Meeting Minutes December 13, 2022 Page 10 up on that because it seems to be a big concern with the public who took the time to come out and speak about this at the meetings. • Vice Chair Brown had a question specifically for Edward Ignacio. He said reading your interrogatory answers, you have a very impressive career with the FBI. However, their concern is that you don't have management experience over a large number of people, which would occur if you were selected as police chief, which consists of 500 employees (if all positions are filled). How would you alleviate some concerns that we may have about your lack of management experience with a large number of people? ➢ Edward Ignacio stated that he has experience with managing over 300 personnel in his background when he was the acting special agent in charge for the national security branch in the Honolulu office. However, it was a short period of time. He explained his management style, he stated you surround yourself with people that you feel are like-minded and will fill those gaps that you might not have. You can't teach leadership, you have to learn it. His way to deal with this would to surround himself with those that have that administrative knowledge until he can get up to speed. He's a quick learner and has the ability to adapt. • Vice Chair Brown had a question for all candidates. He stated this body heard some disturbing comments, not just from the speakers today, but through emails and letters that they've received regarding retaliation and people's fears about coming before this board expressing their views on a preferred candidate or against a candidate. What would you do to alleviate those concerns of retaliation? ➢ Paul Applegate stated that his philosophy has always been to be fair, consistent, and always follow policy. When he heard this, he was upset. No one should be afraid of retaliation for voicing their views. What he would do as chief is communicate to everyone in unequivocal terms that retaliation will not be tolerated and will be dealt with in accordance with their policies. Everyone is to be treated fairly, and everyone's views are to be respected and encouraged. You cannot move forward as a department if you don't have people who are willing to say what their grievances are, what they believe can be changed, and their perception of what's happening. This is the only way that they can move forward, which is to come together with different views and hammer out how to make things better. ➢ Edward Ignacio stated that he agrees with everything that Mr. Applegate has said. He stated he is the type who likes to learn and adapt. He would go to the extent of talking to these individuals directly and hearing their concerns. If they felt compelled to come here and speak to the commission, even in fear of retaliation, that's a person you would want to know because they seem like