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Regular Session Minutes <br />July 18, 2025 <br />Page 3 <br />selecting both the interim and permanent police chief, stressing that rebuilding trust <br />between HPD and the community must be a priority. <br />Christina Holt thanked the commission for removing Chief Moszkowicz, calling it the right <br />decision, but urged them to go further. She testified that HPD must stop collaborating with <br />ICE, describing how families are being racially profiled, separated, and funneled into <br />deportation pipelines with taxpayer resources. Holt statedthis isstate-sponsored violence <br />and a betrayal of community trust. She called on the commission to recommend that <br />County Council terminateall MOUs with ICE, set firm expectations for the next chief, and <br />ensure civil righ <br />accountability, and community safety. <br />Sam Guckenheimer, representing Kona Indivisible, urged the commission to ask specific <br />questions of candidates for interim and permanent police chief regarding HPD’s <br />cooperation with ICE and other federal agencies. He requested that candidates’ answers <br />be made public, focusing on transparency, protection of residents’ rights, proper <br />identification of federal agents, limitations on cooperation with raids, and ensuring all <br />actions comply with the law and community values. <br />Kate Jacobson requested that thecommission adopt two policies when hiring the interim <br />and new police chief: prohibit the use of masks so officers and agents are clearly <br />identifiable, and reject all agreements with Homeland Security and related federal <br />immigration agencies. She emphasized that trust requires transparency, fear undermines <br />public safety, and collaboration with federal immigration practices risks eroding community <br />trust in HPD. <br />Andrea Pro,a Kona coffee farm owner and second-generation daughter of immigrants, <br />testified that immigrant workerslong valued as essential members of the communityare <br />now living in fear, keeping their children home and avoiding work due to ICE activity. She <br />urged the commission to ensure the next police chief has the ethics and courage to reject <br />collaboration with ICE, beginning with revoking MOUs and related agreements, to help <br />restore community trust. <br />Belinda Pate, a healthcare provider, testified that nurses and police have long shared a <br />relationship of mutual respect, noting that seeing officers in the hospital has always <br />reassured her that “everything’s going to be okay.” She emphasized the importance of <br />trust in HPD, explaining that just as nursestake an oath to do no harm, she hopes the <br />newly appointed police chiefwill uphold that same principle. <br />Janet Matlock described herself as strongly pro-lawenforcement, said she no longer feels <br />safe with HPD due to the MOU allowing ICE agents to be embedded in police facilities. <br />She said this agreement erodes trust, creates fear in immigrant and marginalized <br />communities, and makes it unclear who is ICE and who is HPD. She urged the <br /> <br />