2009-08-14 Police Commission Minutes

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Hawaii County Police Commission Regular Session Minutes August 14, 2009 Page 3 statement. Many of the changes are essentially housekeeping. They question whether a meeting once a month was enough. They would like to spend a half to one hour at the next meeting to discuss this further. Corporation Counsel Ashida stated that they could do half of the complaints at one meeting so commissioners wouldn't have to drive so late in the day. Follow -ups to meetings could be done in a few weeks. Some of the proposed changes are housekeeping, consistent with the Charter. It provides guidance for incoming members. He believes the commission is going in the right direction, and the committee is to be commended. Commissioner Kaoiwi stated that he was the one who said, "If it's not broken, don't fix it." If the committee had given the rest of the commission their input, his response would have been different. Commissioner Sumja stated that they had nothing to present. • Contractual Services (vacant): No report. • Public Relations /Information ( Politano Steckel /Ignacio): Commissioner Politano Steckel stated that they should get together to work on the fallen officers' monument. Chair Whittemore stated that he talked with Commissioner Ignacio about what they could do to support the police department. • Complaints Review (Kaoiwi /Morimoto): Chair Whittemore stated that this committee is up for a change, and he will appoint new members. Commissioner Morimoto stated that every commissioner should meet with Internal Affairs to get a better understanding of what they do. Chair Whittemore asked Captain O'Connor to give the other commissioners an orientation to Internal Affairs. CHIEF'S REPORT Including: • Crime: Assistant Chief Tavares summarized the written report. Commissioner Behenna stated that he would like to see the population number as it relates to the crime statistics. Commissioner Ignacio stated that when you do an analysis, there is close correlation to the poverty areas, from homelessness to other aspects. • Traffic: Major Sam Thomas summarized the written report. The statistics are pretty much the same. • Personnel: Assistant Chief Kanehailua reported that they have one sworn vacancy. Captain Paul Kealoha was promoted to Administrative Major. They will be filling vacancies for captain and lieutenant. A dispatch class will be started to fill the three vacancies. Eight school crossing guards are going through the recruitment process.