2003-12-08 Police Commission Minutes

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Hawaii County Police Commission Regular Session Minutes December 8, 2003 Page 4 BERTSCH: They should explain and educate the public and the officer about the process. BERTSCH: They are to vote either "no" or to investigate. The investigation would be through IA DE SILVA: They should be able to order further investigation or call additional witnesses if they are not satisfied with the IA investigation. BERTSCH: The commission's investigator would do further investigation. KUBOJIRI: Asked to clarify somethings that were stated and prior meetings. They look at every complaint that is sent to them. It is part of the ARB file. IA does not reinvestigate what the commission's investigator did. They only investigate missing information, and fill in the gaps. TAVARES- They review the commission's investigative report. That report becomes part of the packet that is sent to the ARB. They will review it, and they may contact the complainant for additional information. They will serve the officer with charges, and give him the date to respond with a statement. All of this is sent to the ARB. FRAZI ER: That's what's driven a lot of their frustration. They were on the premise that there were multiple investigations. MAHUNA: If you have a police officer present, he could be a witness in a criminal trial against that officer. Garrity is only for administrative inquiry. It guarantees that whatever the officer says cannot be used in a criminal trial. The union contract does not say that the Police Commission can give Garrity. The collective bargaining agreement states that the criminal and administrative investigations must be kept separate. Everyone has the right not to say anything. If the Chief orders an officer to give a statement, he gives him Garrity. He doesn't want to circumvent Garrity by having an officer present. DE SILVA: There may be circumstances where the chief or one of his officials sees a public complaint that has come there, and he thinks it demands immediate attention, he could send it to IA anytime he wants. MAHUNA: If a complainant makes complaint with both the Police Department and the Police Commission, they will investigate. HARA: In the Police Commission's process, there is a 60 -day deadline. If it is filed after the deadline, they refer it to the Police Department. DE SILVA: Questioned why they had a 60 -day rule if the complainant could go to the Police Department to file the complaint. They should inform the public that they could file with the Police Department after 60 days. LAMBETH: The 60 -day rule came about because a lot of times people forget the facts. HARA: Maybe the Police Commission should have an informational brochure such as one that IA has. FRAZIER- Commissioners need to read the report prior to the discussion