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Hawaii Police Commission <br /> Special Meeting Minutes <br /> December 13, 2022 <br /> Page 20 <br /> that would be implemented. Regarding a superior officer engaging in <br /> inappropriate behavior, it's one of those problems that just compounds upon <br /> itself. Is it possible to even conduct an impartial investigation if the culture is <br /> such that a superior officer would engage in that behavior in the first place? <br /> Or might the investigator fear retaliation? In that aspect, he would suggest, <br /> especially for a superior officer, that the investigation be conducted by <br /> someone outside of the police department. Human Resources in Honolulu <br /> has an equal opportunity officer and her staff assists with similar <br /> investigations in Honolulu. If it's a subordinate officer then they have <br /> detectives that can do those investigations. Certainly, we want to make sure <br /> that a fair and impartial investigation occurs not only so that appropriate <br /> action can be taken at the divisional level, as far as reeducation or training, <br /> termination, or suspension, but also the city and county are aware of the <br /> investigation and can take appropriate action as well. <br /> ➢ Edward Ignacio stated that the department has been losing good talent. <br /> There's a sweet spot in your career, between your 5t" and 15t" year where at <br /> that time you decided if you're going to be a good patrol officer or sergeant <br /> and stay that course or are you going to elevate yourself and be a leader in <br /> the department? He's been retired for a year and it's been great, he's been <br /> sitting at the coffee shop and people know who he is, they know he was an <br /> FBI guy and he was a police officer. They feel comfortable coming up to him <br /> and talking stories. He heard a lot of concerns from the community. This is <br /> absent of them even knowing that he was eventually going to put in for police <br /> chief. He knows a lot of the officers, he's known them for years and he <br /> worked with them. He heard their grievances and that's one of the reasons <br /> why they're leaving. They feel like they're not being heard. He watched <br /> progressively as young talent spoke to him, expressed that they were <br /> thinking of leaving, and slowly progressively watched them transfer away. It's <br /> sad to see, it's a sad loss. He stated this issue needs to be addressed, it's <br /> something that can be addressed through leadership and training and <br /> making the guys feel like they can be heard. He doesn't know if the message <br /> is lost on the way up the chain or how or why it's not getting to the proper <br /> level, but we need to figure that out. We can't keep losing these talents. We <br /> need to recognize this and deal with it and try to address it, use it, and make <br /> their lives better. Again, it's a quality-of-life thing and a work environment <br /> thing. Regarding inappropriate behavior, that's unacceptable, no matter what <br /> level you are and it will be dealt with swiftly. <br /> ➢ Paul Applegate stated he doesn't have any personal first-hand knowledge of <br /> officers leaving this department prematurely for the reasons spoke about. <br /> However, when you have officers leaving the department prematurely when <br /> it's not for personal reasons or anything of those, they feel like they're not <br /> relevant or being treated fairly or the morale is low. It's a leadership issue <br />