2023-08-31 Police Commission Regular Minutes

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Hawaii Police Commission Regular Session Minutes August 31, 2023 Page 3 • Personnel Report: Assistant Chief Burian reported as of August 25, 2023, there are 77 sworn police vacancies. When subtracting six positions from the 97th Recruit Class and seven positions from the 98th Recruit Class, there are currently 64 actual unfilled positions in the field. There are 27 filled and 12 vacant Police Communications Officer II positions, while Supervising Police Communications Officer positions have five filled and zero vacant. Overall, the department has filled 87% of its sworn positions (420 out of 484) and 79% of its civilian positions (124 out of 156). • Police Officer I Recruitment Activities: Assistant Chief Burian reported the 98th Recruit Class began with seven new hires on July 17, 2023, and will be in academic training until January 15, 2024. The 97th Recruit Class, which initially had nine new hires starting on January 17, 2023, has now transitioned six of its members to field training from July 16, 2023, to November 15, 2023. For the sworn recruitment (99th Recruit Class) that occurred from February 5, 2023, to February 14, 2023: A total of 267 individuals applied. Of those applicants, 99 took the written test, with 72 passing. On April 26, 2023, 72 applicants were summoned for agility testing, 60 showed up, while 12 were no-shows. Out of those who attended, 47 passed, 13 failed, and 33 applicants completed the Personal History Questionnaire (PHQ) packet by the deadline. Currently, there are 31 eligible applicants, and the class start date is projected to start on November 16, 2023. • Recruitments: Interviews for PO III were conducted, they have a list, and made a couple of temporary promotions in the most urgent areas. PO I continuous recruitment (100th Recruit Class) opened on May 14th. The first written exam was on June 26th and the first agility was held on July 19th, 34 passed. Some applicants were unavailable. There was a makeup agility on August 14th of five applicants, one no-show, four passed, and one failed. Applicants who failed the initial agility test will be provided the opportunity to retake it on September 20th. The next set of written examinations for the Police Officer I (Recruit) continuous recruitment was held on July 31, 2023, and the week of September 17, 2023. The subsequent physical agility will be held on September 20, 2023. Commissioner Lassiter asked if applicants fail the agility the second time, could they retake it for a third time? AC Burian explained they would have to re-apply and take the test again, it's limited to two tries. AC Burian noted that it's been a priority to hire dispatchers and things are starting to improve. There was further discussion between AC Burian and Chair Robinson regarding continuous recruitment for Police Officer I positions. Chair Robinson mentioned that he had spoken with the CALEA assessor who had positive feedback about the continuous recruitment process. Chair Robinson also raised the idea of providing training for