2009-05-15 Police Commission Minutes

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Hawaii County Police Commission Regular Session Minutes May 15, 2009 Page 3 Chair Whittemore stated that the information is to be submitted to Josie, and then they could discuss it at the next month's meeting. They need to be respectful of the Sunshine Law. Once it's on the agenda, then it's for public discussion. • Contractual Services (vacant) — No report. • Public Relations /Information (vacant): No report. • Complaints Review (Kaoiwi /Morimoto): Commissioner Morimoto reported that they met with Detectives Alan Kimura and John Briski of Internal Affairs. The initial intent of visiting Internal Affairs was to get an overview of the ongoing complaints. They learned that they don't need to see the internal process such as interrogation of witnesses or what questions are asked because that borders on privacy laws. Internal Affairs has a mission statement, and it is fairly close to what they do as a civilian based commission. He appreciates the new format to the I.A.'s monthly reports. He wants clarity from the Chair and Internal Affairs on what their function is. Chair Whittemore stated that the intent of the committee was to try to get a better overview of Internal Affairs. He talked to Lincoln Ashida about training for the commission, but it has been delayed until they have all the commissioners appointed. Commissioner Morimoto stated that as a member of the complaints review committee, they wouldn't be able to answer questions about investigations because they are not that involved. Chair Whittemore stated that they shouldn't. It's not their role to micro - manage. Too many times he sees too many questions that are a little bit more piercing than need to be. The committee will rotate in July. Commissioner Behenna stated that several months ago, he and Commissioner Sumja presented a report on their attendance at the NACOLE conference. One of the attachments talked about minimum training program for civilian oversight bodies, and he would like them to reference it. Chair Whittemore stated that they had several comparisons and cited San Jose and a couple other police departments. However, they have to remember that their role is not to reinvent the wheel. The wheel has been functioning well. They want to review it, but it's hard to find apples and apples when they get into a big group like that. Probably, the biggest equalizing comparative would be with local state -wide county commissions. Commissioner Politano Steckel stated that comparisons are made with large cities, but there is information about commissions in areas much smaller than San Jose, San Francisco, or New York. They're dealing with 5,000 as opposed to 500, and there's a big difference.