2003-12-19 Police Commission Minutes

Home

Hawaii Police Commission Regular Session Minutes December 19, 2003 Page 2 PERSONNEL ORDERS • Personnel Orders Nos. 2003 -137 to 2003 -147. Commissioner Lambeth motioned to accept the Personnel Orders as listed. Commissioner Frazier seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously. COMMUNICATIONS Vice Chair Manago motioned to accept the communications as listed. Commissioner Lambeth seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously. Correspondence 03 -112: Commissioner Frazier stated that the Chief, his staff, and other police officers spend an inordinate amount of time waiting while the commission is in executive session. He asked for suggestions for better utilization of time. Vice Chair Manago stated that the meeting format was brought up previously. The commission gave precedence to the public and police officers who came to give statements on complaints, and decided to accommodate them by taking their statements at the beginning of the meeting. Chair Hara stated that the commission is an oversight body. To have the Chief, his Deputy, and his Assistant Chiefs show up gives credence to the commission. The commission only has meetings once a month, and it is not too much to have the leadership there. It's hard to field questions for a general without his commanders. It would be difficult to reschedule statements because they cannot be sure of the meeting timeline. Commissioner Bertsch stated that when he first came on the commission, he told the Chief that they did not require his army's presence. However, over time he found that having these individuals present far outweighed the time spent waiting. The agenda varies greatly with regards to time. Sometimes they will finish by 12 o'clock and other times it's 5 o'clock. Their number one client is the public, and he is in favor of keeping agenda as it is now. Corporation Counsel Ashida stated that he spoke to the Chief, and his preference is to be at the meetings. • Correspondence 03 -114: Corporation Counsel Ashida stated that, they needed to decide if they would allow the public to provide statements in executive session. Commissioner Bertsch stated that there are members of the public who feel that by giving public testimony to the Police Commission, there could be retribution. The theory behind the Police Commission is that it gives an individual the opportunity to speak freely in either open or executive session. They might want to look at it as serving the best interest of the public. Correspondence 03 -115: Commissioner Frazier motioned to have this discussed in executive session as it pertains to a procurement contract. Commissioner Lambeth