2026-05-15 Police Commission Regular Minutes (draft)

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Hawaii Police Commission Regular Session Minutes May 15, 2026 Page 3 (a 12% increase). A total of 5,165 citations were issued, including 3,589 moving/ regulatory violations, 342 seat belt violations, 21 child restraint violations, and 1,065 speeding citations. Commissioner Salavea asked what they attribute the decrease in DUI arrests to. Assistant Chief Amon-Wilkins hopes it is due to compliance and added that they have traffic enforcement units on both sides of the island conducting enforcement and showing presence. It's a combination of public awareness and increased enforcement. Commissioner Enriquez inquired about an increase in DUls at this time of year with graduations coming up and parties. Assistant Chief Amon-Wilkins related that they will step up enforcement in anticipation of more people on the roads. They will be focusing on visibility and enforcement during graduation season. • Vice Report: Captain Buyten reported Vice Division activity for April 2026. Seizures included 143.04 grams of meth, 147.59 grams of cocaine, 2.21 grams of heroin, 3,527.30 grams of processed marijuana, along with drug paraphernalia to include scales, pipes, and grinders. They seized $22,585 and recovered three illegal guns. The division made 23 felony arrests involving 85 offenses and executed 29 search warrants. Commissioner Fischer inquired about the big discrepancy between east and west in cocaine seizures and asked if this was attributed to one large arrest or multiple small ones. Captain Buyten reported that it would be a larger recovery due to the decent intelligence they received. • Personnel Report: Assistant Chief Shopay reported that as of April 30, 2026, there were 100 sworn vacancies in the field; counting 13 recruits in the 104t" Recruit Class, 9 in the 105t" Recruit Class, and 7 in the 106t" Recruit Class, there were 71 actual unfilled positions. For Police Communications Officer I and II, 28 positions were filled and 11 were vacant. All five Supervising Police Communications Officer positions were filled. Overall, 403 of 503 sworn positions (80%) and 130 of 163 civilian positions (80%) were filled. PO I recruitment is continuous. On April 15, 2026, 13 applicants were referred; and on May 6, 2026, 13 applicants were referred. The next physical agility test is on June 3, 2026. Assistant Chief Shopay related that County HR and HPD HR are working together to expedite their application process. When an individual applies online, there is a second application for those applying for HPD so there's a lag between when the County accepts the application to see if they meet the minimum qualifications and when HPD gets it. That lag gives people opportunities to take other positions or jobs somewhere else. Therefore, they combined the questions from their second application into the initial one which they believe will help expedite the process. They will test this with school crossing guard applicants.