2012-10-12 Police Commission Minutes

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Hawai‘i Police Commission Regular Session Minutes October 12, 2012 Page 3 Vice Chair Ignacio stated that yellow lines on the roadways are more visible than white lines. She asked if they could think about or promote painting crosswalks yellow. The bulk of crosswalk deaths are our Kupunas. Assistant Chief Kealoha stated that it would depend on whether the roadway is State or County. Some crosswalks have reflectors within the crosswalk. Assistant Chief Tavares stated yellow lines separate traffic in opposite directions, so you don’t normally drive over yellow lines. In both Hilo and Kona, there are flags for crosswalks. Vice Chair Ignacio stated that the zigzag lines in Downtown Hilo helps. Commissioner Victorine stated that Kanoelehua Avenue has several crosswalks that are away from the intersections. It crosses two lanes in both directions with a median in the center. People have to stop on the median, cars do not pay attention, and it’s very dangerous. Assistant Chief Tavares said they will take a look at these crosswalks. Personnel report on vacancies, recruitment, training, promotions, reallocations, severance from service, and work assignments. Assistant Kanehailua reported having 37 sworn vacancies which included the 21 recruits. They started a recruit class with 25. On the first day one person called saying he was not interested. The second day another dropped out. About a week in, two other recruits felt it wasn’t for them. So, they are now down to 21. They got more recruit dropout than anticipated, but it’s better sooner than later when they are on the road. On October 7, they started their new recruitment. Testing will be in December, agility in January, and background checks will follow. They hope to start the class around June- July. They will be interviewing for sergeant’s promotions. Major Weber filed for retirement. They will be doing their PO III promotions which are CPOs, SROs, Vice, and TEU. This has to be timed with the sergeant’s promotions because a lot of officers are on both lists. They are hoping to fill all positions. The civilian vacancies have nothing new. In their next budget cycle which will be submitted in November, they will add defunded clerical positions. The budget will be submitted to the County in November, and meetings will be held in January-February. Finance report of budget and expenditures. Assistant Chief Kanehailua reported that they are tracking about the same amount. Some adjustments will be made to ensure they have the funding to accommodate this fiscal year’s budget. They don’t anticipate any major changes in the budget other than maintenance agreements with their Technical Services Department, Records Management System, and the camera project in Downtown Hilo and Puna. The CALEA accreditation conference is set for November 14-16 when they go before the assessment board to answer questions. They will be sending the accreditation manager, his team of two people, and the Chief. The Mayor has also been invited. They need to be prepared for every question that may come up. He is confident that they will come back as an accredited Police Department. Vice Chair Ignacio asked if recruits are checked for things such as anger management and alcohol abuse. Assistant Chief Kanehailua said, “Yes.” He further stated that the