2012-03-16 Police Commission Minutes

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Hawaii Police Commission Regular Session Minutes March 16, 2012 Page 4 Deputy Chief Ferreira reported that Chief Kubojiri was unable to attend this meeting because he was attending a Joint Terrorism Task Force meeting in Honolulu which involved all the counties and federal agencies. Commendations: Deputy Chief Ferreira reported that they received 6 commendations involving 34 personnel since the last commission meeting. Other Department Activities ✓ Child restraints: Deputy Chief Ferreira stated that they have Department of Transportation grants. The seatbelt enforcement grant that they applied for also involves a child restraint program. This grant assists new parents with fitting the child restraint. When they do their seatbelt check points, they also do a lot of child restraint checks. Commissioner Marques stated that a big problem with enforcement in rural communities is the small number of police officers. Deputy Chief Ferreira stated that in areas, such as Ka'u, if they see violations, they could bring it to the attention of the commander. Each district has an allotment of overtime funds from the grant that they can use to schedule officers on an overtime basis, special projects, or to bring in the Traffic Enforcement Unit which has island -wide jurisdiction. Commissioner Victorine stated that if they see a violation, they could take the license plate number and make a report. At the very least, the owner of the vehicle would receive a letter from the department regarding the violation. Commissioner Marques stated that oftentimes when children are dropped off at Pahala Elementary School, they do not wear seatbelts. Chair Ono stated that it would be good to first issue warnings and say that the next time they would get a ticket. ✓ Budget: Deputy Chief Ferreira reported that they are having their budget hearing on Thursday, April 12, at 1:30 p.m. in the County Council Room in Hilo. COMMITTEE REPORT • Committee formed for the purpose of reviewing the Police Department's Vision /Mission Plan. Chair Ono reported that the committee met on March 1 st. The members felt there were topics with sufficient interest for the entire commission. So, they decided to discontinue the committee and agendize specific topics of interest for discussion during the commission's meetings. Chair Ono stated that at the next Kona meeting, there will be a Power Point presentation on the "Open Public Firing Range." Discussion will take about 45 minutes. NEW BUSINESS • Correspondence 2012 -02. Invitation to the 2012 State of Hawaii Police Commissioners' Conference May 24 -25, 2012, hosted by the Maui Police Commission. This was discussed during communications.