2012-08-24 Police Commission Minutes

Home

Hawaii Police Commission Regular Session Minutes August 24, 2012 Page 2 COMMUNICATIONS • Correspondence 2012 -06: Request for representation by Corporation Counsel for Police Officers James Waiamau and Matthew Bartz in Civil No. 12 -1 -0403. Discussion was held in Executive Session. POLICE CHIEF'S REPORT ON DEPARTMENT ACTIVITIES Including, but not limited to: • Crime report by area, category, and trends. Assistant Chief Henry Tavares reported that up through July 31, 2012, there were 851 serious crimes. The Area I and II Criminal Investigative Units investigated 256 of those cases. For the month of July, the department received 7,809 calls for service, of which 2,479 were related to Criminal /Traffic and 5,330 were Miscellaneous Public Requests. Crime trends in the Hilo District show an increase in burglaries and car break -ins. A special enforcement unit is addressing the burglary complaints and car break -ins. They have seen a rise in burglaries in lower Puna in the Hawaiian Paradise Park, Orchidland, Ainaloa, and Hawaiian Beaches area. Two officers are focusing their efforts on these burglaries. Crime trends in Area II show an increase in auto thefts in the Kailua town area to Keauhou. To combat that problem, they have a special enforcement unit as well as community policing officers working with confidential informants. Patrol and traffic enforcement have been increased in these areas. In response to an inquiry by Vice Chair Ignacio, AC Tavares stated that their special enforcement units in both areas are made up of 4 -5 officers and a supervisor. They concentrate their efforts on where the resources are needed most. In Hilo they are being bombarded with burglaries. It has risen to about 40 -50 burglaries in the last two months. These officers are concentrating their efforts in this area. Every report goes through them so they can see the similarities. For example, if they see a white Toyota seen leaving a house in Waiakea Uka and a white Toyota leaving a house in Papa`ikou, they can put that information together. Neighborhood watches and business watches do help. They recently started farm watches in Keaau. They work with Community Policing Officers. In response to Vice Chair Ignacio's inquiry, AC Tavares stated that jewelry is a hot ticket item. The price of gold has gone up, so jewelry is being cut up and taken to the gold dealers. One officer's main responsibility is to monitor the pawn shops daily, see who is coming in. A lot of the pawn shops have cameras. They do have some hits. The volume of property coming through is phenomenal. Assistant Chief Kealoha added that West Hawai is also experiencing the same thing, jewelry thefts, particularly gold. The majority of the offenders they arrest have