2022-12-12 Police Commission Regular Minutes

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Hawaii Police Commission Special Meeting Minutes December 12, 2022 Page 7 • Vice Chair Brown started with the first question, which came from the public. He stated people within the county and in the public have said they had trouble receiving returned calls and information from appointed and elected officials. Will you return messages from people who are asking them to honor your oath of office? ➢ Sherry Bird stated as far as returning replies to community members, she is a responsive type of person. If someone reached out to her, she would be responsive. She likes to be present, approachable, and engage in a two-way conversation. She might not know the answer right away, but she's not afraid to go and research and find what the answer is and get back to the person. ➢ Benjamin Moszkowicz stated it's interesting listening to the testifiers and the one underlying current through most of the testimony that he's heard is the need for the next chief of this department to be a collaborator, someone who's a communicator and someone who can bring people together and share ideas. He would expect his administration and himself to be available all the time. He has gone back to college, got his master's degree, and is studying for his Ph.D. One of the things that he learned from his professors is having office hours. Whether it's himself as the chief, the deputy chief, or an assistant chief, there's an opportunity to set up an office hour type situation. You wouldn't have to wait for him to call back. They could visit at a specific time and have a conversation about whatever the issues are. That concept and mind frame builds collaborative partnerships and goes a long way towards transparency. Command levels and supervisors at all levels in the department need to be accountable and responsive to the public. ➢ Edward Ignacio stated that he's a Big Island boy and grew up here. Ohana, village, everyone, it's about communication, and if you lose touch with everyone meaning the general public and everyone around you, including internally and externally of the department you get a question like that. He feels it's important to be responsive. He believes there are systems that need to be put in place so that you can keep in touch with the people around you, whether it be himself as the chief directly or as a deputy or the chief's office in general. There are office hours, you could even go as far as establishing a liaison officer or person, through this office, you use that to communicate with the general public and address questions that may come up. When you don't have communication, it makes people think there's no transparency and perception goes out the window. In these days and times, we must ensure that we're connected to the community. To answer the question, he stated yes, he would be responsive or someone within the office, such as the deputy, but he will try to do it himself. He thinks it's important that as the face of the department, you're the one out there answering the questions.