2013-04-19 Police Commission Minutes

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Hawaii Police Commission ‘ Regular Session Minutes April 19, 2013 Page 3 Chief Kubojiri reported further on the budget. He stated that they went before the County Council to present their 2013-14 budget. In their supplementary budget, they requested an increase in personnel. They gave a Power Point presentation illustrating the calls for service that show the drastic increase over the last several years and personnel being maintained pretty much the same. This translates to delay in responding to the increased calls for service. It has gotten to the point where patrol officers are reactive as opposed to proactive. They asked for an increase in personnel for Ka’u. They want to have the Hawaiian Ocean View area covered with at least two officers per shift. They received six additional positions from the COPS grant. They reallocated vacant county positions upwards. They now will have a lieutenant in the North Hilo District, a sergeant for the Traffic Enforcement Unit in West Hawai‘i, and another supervisory position for North Kohala. They anticipate three captain’s vacancies which includes Captain Kawamoto’s position. They are in the process of filling all the positions. Commissioner Bertsch stated that in the Crime Report, he noticed the trending from last year to this year. There is a 15% increase in burglary and at least 10% increase in theft island-wide with the same staffing. He asked if they are able to bolster up the investigation division in order to follow-through and clear the crimes. Chief Kubojiri stated that they are asking for additional detectives for both sides. Commissioner Bertsch asked the Chief if he noticed a higher rate of complaints both internally and externally as the officers become overworked. Chief Kubojiri stated that they started monitoring complaints through new computer software. They have seen a decline in rudeness. They see spikes here and there but no direct correlation. Chief Kubojiri stated that besides uniform officers, they also asked for civilian positions. The Evidence Technicians in Hilo respond to major crimes scenes for the entire island. They do diagramming and collection of evidence and help free up the detectives to do police work. These technicians are overworked, and they are asking for a position in West Hawai‘i. Vice Chair Ignacio stated that three people complained to her about roadway construction. There have been sites where construction has been completed for months, but the reduced speed limit signs are still up. The perception for people is that the police are using this to ticket people. She asked if they could influence the State to do a better job of removing the reduced speed limit signs because the police department gets the rap for this. Chief Kubojiri stated that since they discussed this issue previously, they have asked personnel to make calls when the construction sites are over. He hasn’t seen an increase in citations for those areas with lowered speed limits. He acknowledged the public’s perception.