2022-12-13 Police Commission Regular Minutes

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Hawaii Police Commission Special Meeting Minutes December 13, 2022 Page 13 gets that, but sometimes just having a presence shows that you're engaged and you have to have engagement if you want everyone to buy into what you're going to say. ➢ Paul Applegate stated the Big Island is 4,000 square miles, that's a huge geographic area to have one central point to manage. He understands why there's Area I and Area II, that work for their respective areas independently. However, as chief, he would ask all the members for their input and encourage input. The people that do the job and are there in the trenches every day have the answers, it's just that nobody asked them what they think. As chief, he would ask everyone; civilian staff, sworn officers, command staff, retirees, and the public what they think. He's not opposed to some form of reorganization, he doesn't know because he doesn't know enough yet. Like Mr. Ignacio stated earlier, he would spend part of his week on the west side. A repeated thing you'll always hear from him is always treat everyone with fairness, treat them consistently, and follow policy. He would make sure that both sides have equal access to resources because it's one department. It would be a collaborative effort to come up with solutions. As chief, it would be his decision, but he would want that input from all stakeholders to make that decision. • Commissioner Quartararo stated one of the ironies that he sees, especially with Mr. Ignacio and his life history.... He asked Mr. Ignacio what years he was a police officer. Mr. Ignacio stated from 93-96 he was with the Honolulu PD, he transferred to Hawaii County PD in 96-2000, then he went into the FBI. He retired from the FBI on November 30, 2021. Commissioner Quartararo stated had you applied to be a police officer here again, having served all that time with the FBI, you would be required to start over in the academy. With all your experience with the FBI for 20 years has got to sit on a shelf for a couple of years until you work your way back as a police officer. He further stated if you're a police officer on the mainland, you're given no credit if you want to become a police officer in Hawaii, you've got to start over. Where are you as far as that sort of thing goes? Commissioner Quartararo stated that he's been on the commission for almost three years and at every meeting they're going over the personnel, showing 70-80 officers short. He thinks a part of the problem is we can't afford ourselves transfers from the mainland because do you want to take a cut in pay and start over at the bottom when you've got 10-20 years of experience? He further stated that he keeps hearing about the Northwest, it's almost like a drain, and the officers are being pulled from there because they don't have the same prohibitions. He asked Edward Ignacio, where are you as far as that goes? ➢ Edward Ignacio stated he thinks he understands the question and clarified he's talking about bringing in talent that has a lot of experience, and currently you would subject them to go into the academy again.