2001-10-19 Police Commission Minutes

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October 19, 2001 Regular Session Minutes Page 2 robbery occurs, people are being told to come down to the station. This is not only happening in Kona. Kau only has two officers on duty from Ocean View to Volcano. One incident in Ocean View, and that leaves Pahala completely uncovered. The police department is basically being given stones and slingshots to fight crime, and a lot of the criticism will come down on the police administration. Chief Correa reported that f they don't have enough patrol officers to handle the core services, then they have to look at other avenues such as the community policing officers. The department has no cushion. If they have people out on injury, sick leave, or any kind of extended leave of absence, they don't have additional people to fill the gap during the interim period. Unfortunately, they have quite a few officers out for some reason. They have a lot of young officers and young families, and it's not unusual for officers to put in for four weeks family leave. The whole department faces this problem. There are areas that are affected more than others, and this reflected in the use of overtime. Their budget has increased over the years but only as a result of some federally created positions. The county cellblock positions were mandated. Since 1994 they created 30 community- policing positions which were partly funded by the federal government and asset forfeiture. The county could have abolished the positions after three years but chose to absorb the costs. Vice Chair Manago stated that the County Council needs to be shown what is needed to run a proactive police department. They need to be shown what type of service to expect for the amount of monies given to them. They also need to be shown what type of programs and proper protection can be afforded to the community if they are given additional funds. Commissioner Hara stated that the results of September 11, the welfare rolls being cut, and the increase in the Big Island population is justification for going to the Mayor for a budget increase. Chief Correa stated that he will work closely with the commission on the budget. It is not very complex because 78% is salaries and wages. Most of the other 22% is operating costs. Their equipment budget has been cut down to about $50,000. Chair Okabe stated that if they are not able to increase the budget, they will have to look at taking away from programs such as community policing and Hi -Pal. • Office Management and Staffing: Chair Okabe reported that they are still working on upgrading the secretary's position. • Rules and Policies: Commissioner Bertsch had no report. However, he questioned whether it was necessary to take the assistant chiefs and the business manager away from their daily workload and spend a great deal of time attending commission meetings. Chief Correa stated that it is important to have his staff attend the meetings so that they could provide information to the commission. It is also important that his staff has first hand knowledge of what transpires at the meetings.