2022-12-12 Police Commission Regular Minutes

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Hawaii Police Commission Special Meeting Minutes December 12, 2022 Page 23 so we need to make sure that they're being told to do and go in the right places. ➢ Benjamin Moszkowicz stated in his view, the number one role of a police department or any law enforcement agency in the United States today is to protect the rights of people. How do we do that? We establish policies, respond to calls, and enforce laws. But fundamentally it comes down to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, in his opinion, in his view, is a shield. It protects individuals from the government and it protects individuals from each other. The role of federal, state, and county laws, and the role of legislatures on all three of those levels is subservient to what's in the Constitution, Charter, State, and Federal Constitution. Sometimes legislatures are misguided in their attempts or want to accomplish one thing without realizing that they're trampling on established law and that's where the judiciary comes in to meet out these discussions and come up with decisions. If you look at the other modern-day topics that our four county police chiefs are dealing with. In his personal opinion, if chosen for the job, he would follow the rules of the Charter and Hawaii revised Statutes as they're applicable and federal laws as well, but he doesn't think the police chief should have a role in granting second amendment rights. If that's a state function and the state wants to legislate it under the State Constitution then they should do it at a state level. To delegate that without the authority to protect those rights to him, it's a problem that each county police chief can decide in their county what rights that are protected by the United States Constitution and State of Hawaii Constitution and how they're applied. He would do the job, and he would apply his own view on policing to making those decisions, but it's something he would advocate to have that power taken away from the police chief because he doesn't think this is where it lies. It should be regulated, but it shouldn't be regulated at a county level. One of the questions he was asked once at a sergeant's interview panel was if you are given an order that is improper what should you do and if you are given an order that's illegal what should you do? If you're given an order that's improper, such as the police chief being ordered to violate policy, but it's still legal, it's still proper then you do it. But if you're given an order that's illegal, you're asked to do something that's improper, you have to have the integrity to stand up and say no, it's against the law, it violates the Constitution, I'm not going to do it. that's the requirement and responsibility that we impose on members of the police department. ➢ Edward Ignacio stated that he doesn't think there's been a police chief prior that has ever not upheld the Constitution, from this county. What it boils down to is perception. People who have those concerns have a perception based on their background and what they believe that the police chief may or may not be supporting the Constitution. The way you deal with that is by listening. You have to make sure you're actively listening to the people out there, addressing