2012-01-20 Police Commission Minutes

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Hawai‘i Police Commission Regular Session Minutes January 20, 2012 Page 3 Regarding CALEA, they completed 99% of their proofs for standards for accreditation. Staff is shooting for the next month for the mock exercises. The actual accreditation process will be in May or June. Finance: Chief Kubojiri reported that they will meet with County Finance next week to discuss the 2012-13 budget. Commendations: Chief Kubojiri reported receiving five commendations since the last meeting. Other Department Activities: Regarding Commissioner Sumja’s inquiry into spike of sexual assaults, Chief Kubojiri stated that they now have a statute that allows them to store Jane Doe DNA evidence for future use. They have seen a spike in that. Corporation Counsel Ashida stated that the statutes of limitations varies for different sexual assault circumstances. Chief Kubojiri stated that this can be reported anywhere, the police, the hospital. Sexual assault is one of the most heinous crimes where a victim has to relive it with a male officer, then relive it in again in court. It’s very difficult to report and follow through. This is one step towards addressing and reporting it. If someone wants to go through with the process later, they would have the DNA. INVESTIGATION AND DELIBERATON OF COMPLAINTS MITCH MICHINO (Complaint HPC 11-31) came before the commission. He stated that regardless of qualifications, they are bound to hire someone who is not suitable for the job. People are desperate to get a job. As soon as you hire that person, the true nature of that person comes out. Once you hire into the police department, this police officer is protected by the union. In his particular situation, he was picking up sushi for a party. A police officer in an unmarked car caught him. He had taken out his belt to get his wallet to pay for the sushi. The seat belt was hanging. The officer explained the seat belt violation. He was under a lot of stress because of time and asked the officer to let him go. He told the officer he was taking food back for a wedding rehearsal dinner. He went back to his car, took about ten minutes, and so he went out of his car. The officer handed him the citation. He should have just accepted it, but he told the officer he was an asshole. After he told him that, the officer got out of control. He announced he was under arrest. He couldn’t believe it. He thought he was joking. He is a law abiding citizen. He has not had a traffic citation in many years. He looked very serious, so he took back the word “asshole.” The officer jumped in back of him. He fell forward, and the officer thought he was resisting arrest. It was a simple seatbelt violation, and the officer took it to an extreme. He handcuffed him in the back. This was closed to 4:30 in the afternoon. His guests were waiting. He handcuffed both hands tightly and he complained. He was kept handcuffed on a busy street for close to half an hour. Officer Flowers came. He asked both officers if he could call his wife to pickup the food. This was not an ordinary occasion. The pickup car took him to the station about 5:00. The