2009-02-20 Police Commission Minutes

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Hawaii County Police Commission Regular Session Minutes February 20, 2009 Page 3 people from all over the world. They were tied up from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Next year it will be in Houston. He encouraged other commissioners to attend. Commissioner Behenna stated that people were shocked that they had the ability to hire and fire the Chief. They discussed school policing. He passed around the San Jose Police Department's guide of police practices and resources for students and gave Chief Kubojiri a CD. Not knowing the discipline was outside the norm. Some organizations had elaborate case processes and some were informal. An example is policy recommendation being in the annual report. NACOLE has a recommended training program. They talked about recruiting commissioners and how the composition of an oversight board can affect how it operates and how it is perceived by the committee. If meetings are scheduled during the work week, it tends to affect working people and students. There was discussion about the police being a part of the community and the commission. There was discussion about reviewing the civilian oversight process, whether it should be internal, done by outside evaluators, themselves, or none at all. There was discussion on the role of mediation. It could eliminate a lot of stress, paperwork, and hurt feelings. He strongly supports having new people attend the conference. Commissioner Lassiter told Commissioners Behenna and Sumja that they did an excellent job of reporting and bringing back information. The big police stations, such as San Jose, have paid auditors, but they have 5,000 to 6,000 officers versus here on the Big Island with only about 500. She felt that our officers are doing a great job. Chair Whittemore stated that mediation was brought up for issues in the Kona Marketplace where they brought together all those who were involved. He likes the idea of involving younger people. A big challenge is this big island where they have to commute and, they move meetings around the island so people can conveniently attend. CHIEF'S REPORTS Including: • Crime: AC Tavares summarized the written report. He stated that burglaries in the Puna area are occurring during the day when people are working. They are combating it by visibility, awareness, and getting information to the various community watches. Vice Chair Kaoiwi stated that he talked with contractors in the HPP area, and there seems to be a ring that is hitting the construction sites. AC Tavares stated that the problem exists with many unoccupied homes. There is always a market for such items. People will pay $100 for a refrigerator. They do not have officers working specifically on this, but they do have informants. They do find items on Craig's List, pawnshops, etc. • Traffic: AC Pacheco stated that he did not have much to report. Traffic fatalities and DUls are down, probably due to weather and officers being out on training. They are looking to get funding from the county to combat aggressive driving. The downward trend in the numbers correlate with the higher number of traffic citations. They do not keep records of accidents involving the use of cell phones. A lot of times during DUI