2009-01-16 Police Commission Minutes

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Hawaii County Police Commission Regular Session Minutes January 16, 2009 Page 2 Discussion: • Correspondence 09 -01, from the Kauai Police Commission, requesting attendance information to the Annual State of Hawaii Police Commission Conference in May 2009. Commissioner Behenna stated that they need to respond with the budget in mind. Expressing interest in attending were Whittemore, Kaoiwi, Morimoto, Politano Steckel, and Sumja. • Administrative Notice No. 2008 -134 regarding new spending guidelines. Chair Whittemore stated that the budget situation is serious, and all departments are being asked to step forward. Travel expenses can be costly. They might rethink how many people they send to the mainland and interisland conferences this year. There is value in attending these conferences, but they also need to weigh all the considerations. They have also been asked to room together. He asked for ideas to reduce expenses. Vice Chair Kaoiwi stated that the State of Hawaii Police Commissioners' Conference is a workshop where they learn what the other commissions are doing. Maybe they should send only one commissioner to NACOLE (National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement). Commissioners leave after five years, but their secretary stays with the commission. If they want to send somebody who is going to repay, the most logical one is the secretary. He has said from the beginning that the secretary should go with one other person because valuable information is passed down, and she is going to retain it and bring it back for future use Commissioner Lundkvist suggested that they send different people to the conferences, and it should not be more than two people. Commissioner Lassiter suggested that they send a junior commissioner to the NACOLE conference, not someone who would be leaving soon. The inter - island conferences are valuable tools where they get to share and communicate ideas with other commissioners. Chair Whittemore stated that the inter - island conferences are important, and there is clear value in working with commissions from the other islands. In other commissions he's been on, they have a policy that says if you are in your last year or two, you don't go to the mainland conference. There is a window in the first 2 -3 years in which you can go to these events, and that's policy. The outcome is to set their priorities and control their expenses. • 2009 Police Commission meeting schedule. Chair Whittemore stated that it is a challenge to get a meeting room without having to pay a rental fee, and this year's schedule had to be adjusted for this. Chair Kaoiwi stated that they should accept the schedule. Commissioner Sumja agreed. The motion to accept the communications carried unanimously.