2008-09-19 Police Commission Minutes

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Hawaii County Police Commission Regular Session Minutes September 19, 2008 Page 2 COMMITTEE REPORTS • Budget and Finance (Whittemore / Kaoiwi): Vice Chair Whittemore reported that they just received a notice to submit the commission's 2009 -10 budget. They will work towards a status quo budget. • Office Management and Staffing (Lassiter /Morimoto): No report. • Rules and Policies (Behenna / Sumja): Commissioner Sumja reported that he and Commissioner Behenna did a preliminary review of the commission's rules and they have identified areas where changes might be advised. They requested that the Chair send a letter (which they drafted) to the commission members, the Chief of Police, and Corporation Counsel requesting their ideas about possible rule changes. They would like to have this done by November 15. Their timeline is spring 2009. He and Commissioner Behenna will be going to the NACOLE conference to learn more about what other oversight bodies are doing. • Contractual Services (vacant): No report. • Public Relations /Information (Lassiter /Behenna): Commissioner Politano Steckel stated that she would like to continue working on the fallen police officers' monument and asked for assistance from other commissioners. CHIEF'S REPORT Including: • Crime: Assistant Chief Tavares reported that they started a highly successful criminal enforcement unit whereby five officers selected from various watches focus on problems in the districts. They work various hours on a rotation basis. The operation is both covert and openly visible. A lot of officers are striving to be selected and feel that it is an honor to do this even though there is no pay increase. • Traffic: Assistant Chief Pacheco reported that traffic accidents, fatalities, and DUls are down. The Traffic Enforcement Unit has been selected for a State DUI award. Commissioner Kaoiwi stated that he had the opportunity to observe a roadblock in Pepeekeo during Labor Day. He commended the roadblock team for their good work. • Personnel: Assistant Chief Ferreira reported having 11 sworn and 6 civilian vacancies. The next recruit class is scheduled to go out on December 17. They are targeting Nov. 16 to start the next recruit class. That would make them fully staffed. July 1999 was the last time the department was fully staffed. • Finance: Accountant Kay Nishibayashi entertained questions regarding the budget. She stated that the Mayor's request to reduce the budget was only for this fiscal year. She believes they have enough funds for overtime for the rest of the year.