2024-03-08 Police Commission Regular Minutes

Home

Hawaii Police Commission Regular Session Minutes March 8, 2024 Page 7 On January 23, 2024, around 50 department volunteers helped erect "The Wall That Heals", including Chief Moszkowicz, Deputy Chief Mahuna, administrative and training staff, and recruits. It is a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC, which travels the country and it was the first time ever in Hawaii. On January 28, 2024, volunteers returned to disassemble the wall. This was a great opportunity for the start of a tradition of a recruit class having a service project that they can participate in. January 27-28, 2024, was the 2nd Annual HI-PAL Coach Pitch/T-ball tournament where more than 250 keiki from around the island, ages 6-8, came together at a gym in Keaukaha. There were 19 teams and the entire operation was completely put on by HI-PAL and volunteer department personnel. In February the department approached County Council to ask for additional unfunded temporary positions. They currently have 67 unfunded temporary positions which they fill with people going through the recruit classes. Funding for these positions come from vacant Police Officer II positions. None of those positions will be freed until the recruits take their first assignment so they asked County Council for 33 more temporary positions which will allow them to grow the department at an unprecedented rate, which they approved. They have 484 positions in the department and asked Council to increase the number of sworn positions by 17 which will put them at 501. The 17 new positions are designed to allow for growth and help to reorganize as they moved people to different areas. If the trend continues, this time next year they will be at 490-495. One of the things they were asked is to look at response times. Adding staffing to rural areas will make the response area smaller. Next year they will meet with County Council to increase the number of police officers in Puna and Hawaiian Ocean View Estates. There are two top notch training for police, FBI National Academy and Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) which is a Senior Management Institute for Police. PERF offers a 3-week in-person class at Boston University at a cost of$11,505 tuition plus airfare. Chief Moszkowicz applied for and was awarded a scholarship so there will be no cost to taxpayers when he attends the session on July 7-25, 2024. Commissioner Ing applauded the new approach to recruiting and inquired if there's anything being done on retention. Chief Moszkowicz stated that when he was selected by the commission, that was one of the five things he looked at. Unfortunately that's proven harder to develop than recruitment. Things they have done to impact those things are allowing officers to drive pickup trucks, allowing officers to claim mileage from home to work, and issuing flashlights to be carried on belts which have been very well received. People need to be provided an outlet and "Where's Chief Ben" came from an officer's suggestion at the end of his career. During the officer's exit interview, he stated how difficult it was to hear information which sparked this idea. That person now wants to become a Reserve Officer. Commissioner Ing asked if every sworn