2008-06-20 Police Commission Minutes

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Hawaii County Police Commission Regular Session Minutes June 20, 2008 Page 6 Commissioner Morimoto stated that the general public thinks they paid $21,000 for nothing, and he asked if the police department would be issuing a statement to clarify this issue. AC Ferreira stated that this information was provided to the media. As AC Tavares and Corporation Counsel Ashida stated, they don't have control over what is published. The explanation they put out does not necessarily get there. Their counter parts in Maui, Honolulu, and Kauai were all contacted regarding the cost of their vehicles and what they equip their vehicles with. They do not have a maintenance facility or shop to take care of equipment replacements like Honolulu does. Historically, they have not had many blue and whites to cannibalize. Normally, most of their blue and whites cannot fetch much of a return resale value because of the way the cars are run. They put a lot of mileage on them. One of their old SUVs was auctioned off for only $25. Even the dealership wouldn't take it in. One of the media representatives called and questioned him about the $17,000 price tag for the computer, window bars, and radio as it was published in another media. He had that person come over to look at what they had. He was satisfied but he didn't see any article in the paper about it. Commissioner Behenna stated that Volcano is having a Fourth of July parade in which the Police Department is participating. He asked if they could take these new vehicles to events such at this with an officer to answer questions about it. AC Ferreira stated that the Community Policing Officers have been told that anytime there is a function, the purpose of these vehicles is for high visibility and for county functions. In response to Commissioner Sumja's inquiry, AC Ferreira stated that he believes that the majority of officers do take good care of the department's equipment. No matter where you work or what you do, there will be one or two people who will not take care of company equipment. They do have recourse for that, and they will take disciplinary action if necessary. However, these vehicles will get damaged. They will get abused, not by police officers, but by the public. They have had bottles and rocks thrown at officers' cars. This is not necessarily aimed at specific officers, but just to the vehicle itself. He believes that the majority of their officers take very good care of these cars. For the majority of the officers, that's their office. They are running around in their office, and they won't damage their office. The vehicles will get abused by the detainees more than by the officers. Corporation Counsel Ashida stated that they, as commissioners, are in a unique position because they get the other half of the story, the county's perspective of what happened. When they talk about information that is out there, part of their responsibility is to insure that balanced information gets out there when they are