2009-02-20 Police Commission Minutes

Home

Hawaii County Police Commission Regular Session Minutes February 20, 2009 Page 4 stops, other infractions are found. Officers in TEU do not rotate. Commissioner Kaoiwi thanked the department for traffic enforcement in the Railroad Avenue area which has curbed speeding. In response to Commissioner Politano Steckel's concern about speeding in the Wainaku area, he will ask the CPOs to put out a speed board. • Personnel: Major Kanehailua reported that they have nine sworn and eight civilian vacancies. A cadet class was started on February 5. Six cadets will be transferring over to Police Officer I. They will interview for the Accountant IV position today. They have an even number of east and west side recruits. Chief Kubojiri reported that since the last meeting, Ernest Matsumoto was promoted to Detective in CIS. • Finance: Deputy Chief Ferreira reported that they will have a budget hearing on March 31 with the County Finance Committee. CIPs that have been identified as ready to go are the Pahoa station, the South Kona station, and the evidence station. Chair Whittemore asked to go over all the CIPs at the next meeting when they all have a copy of the report. • Commendations: Chief Kubojiri reported receiving nine commendations since the last meeting. • Other Departmental Activities: Chief Kubojiri thanked Commissioners Behenna and Sumja for the NACOLE report. After a quick overview of the San Jose Police Department's report, he found that much of it is covered in CALEA, so it's in the process for them. Regarding the TEU, they are specialized, and the officers have been temporarily allocated to PO III. Their normal run is five years, and they can ask for an extension. Specialized positions have extensive training. After five years, they rotate back to patrol to pass on the experience. Specialized positions such as TEU, vice, and canine handlers run for five years. The Department of Transportation is trying to get a state -wide ban on the use of electronic devices such as cell phones. They have attached age to it, and that is problematic because it would be tough to enforce. The police department supports safe driving. Chief Kubojiri further reported that they will be starting a bicycle patrol soon. They have approximately 18 bicycles in inventory which were initially used by community policing officers years ago. The bicycles are now being restored to working condition. He wants to start using them in all the districts that will have an impact. They trained eight officers in East Hawaii with funds from the Pahoa Weed and Seed program. West Hawaii charges twice the amount to restore the bicycles, so they are looking at bringing the bikes into Hilo. Chair Whittemore suggested that they have Kona triathletes assist with training and that they look around for pricing.