2013-05-17 Police Commission Minutes

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HawaiÒi Police Commission Regular Session Minutes May 17, 2013 Page 3 officers and will be on the road around June 1-15. Unlike the new recruits, these officers have minimal training to go through. The 19 recruits are scheduled to hit the road on July 16. For civilian vacancies, Assistant Chief Kanehailua reported that they have 5 dispatcher vacancies. The Puna Operations Clerk was promoted to vacancy was filled by a clerk from Puna, so that position has to be filled. A former Police Commissioner was hired as a clerk in their Training Department. There will be an additional sergeant in KaÓu, North Kohala, and Kona TEU. The temporary CALEA sergeant will be permanent. CID will get another detective. Patrol will get their sergeant back. There will be a new lieutenantÓs position on North Hilo. In response to questions, he stated that the Federal sequestration has not affected them. Finance report of budget and expenditures: Assistant Chief Kanehailua reported that targeted expenditures at the end of April were at 87%. They are tracking at 83%. They sent out their expenditure report to the commanders for their review so they could move things around as needed. The Mayor is going around the island to solicit input from the community on the budget. They asked for all unfunded positions to be put back into the budget and asked for some increases in IT and other areas. In the last 3 years that he has being going through the budget, the commanders have held the line in budget cutbacks, but services remain high. As they get more manpower they will be able to increase their services. Commissioner Bertsch stated that in the past years that he was on commission, he doesnÓt think he has ever seen a report where the overtime wages 100%. Salaries were at 83% and overtime is at 102%. Assistant Chief Kanehailua explained that the budget was pushed back one day. The printout move. Another thing to consider is that they were at full staff a few years ago, and overtime was reduced. In the last year or so, they had retirements, individuals took on new positions, and the vacancies increased and overtime incre activation also added to the overtime. Deputy Chief Ferreira stated that during the budget hearings, they are always asked if they budgeted enough for overtime. In law enforcement and public safety, the question of what is enough always comes up. One tsunami, one fire, and ten murders will increase their overtime budget beyond what they can estimate. For the last four years, because of the fiscal crunch, their overtime budget has been status quo. Commissioner Bertsch stated that the burden falls on the CommissionÓs shoulders whether the personnel in the field are managed correctly so that overtime. Assistant Chief Kanehailua stated that they have had a status quo reduced budget for years. He can say with confidence that they have been supervising their personnel very well without affecting services. Additionally, when overtime is earned, officers need to elect to take compensatory time off or overtime pay, and most are taking the overtime pay.