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Hawai‘i Police Commission <br />Regular Session Minutes <br />June 21, 2013 <br />Page 5 <br /> <br />Commissioner Bertsch told the Chief that it’s frustrating because he (Chief) started <br />this survey to garner anonymous information from the public. The frustrating part is <br />when old information gets out that changes the way that the citizens perceives what <br />the department is doing. He questioned how the media was made aware and <br />available to the old data when in fact, he assumed, they did an announcement and <br />provided the new data. He is looking to make sure they don’t end up in this same <br />predicament in the future. <br /> <br />Chief Kubojiri stated that he believes all their information, including the results of <br />past surveys, can be accessed through their website. In this day with the availability <br />of information accessed through the internet or electronic media, it leaves him to <br />wonder how it went from research to print without someone double checking the <br />accuracy of the information. The whole reason behind the community survey is to <br />get a feel on how they can improve as a police department by garnering comments <br />and input from the community.It’s like their report card. Oftentimes, it is hard to <br />gauge how well they are doing vs. what the public’s perception is of what they are <br />doing. There are issues that come up in these surveys that they have turned around <br />and identified specific training areas. One was the telephone messaging. Another <br />had to do with attitude and rudeness of officers. They want to put it out and identify <br />and address the issues. <br /> <br />Commissioner Bertsch stated that the results affect pride and morale within the <br />department. <br /> <br />Vice Chair Ignacio stated that she attended a workshop on social media. From that <br />meeting, she found that the person or organization needs to tell the story because <br />once you let somebody else tell your story, you are in trouble. She wondered if they <br />could have strategically made a big thing of giving out the results vs. the media <br />doing it. <br /> <br />Commissioner Bertsch stated that many police officers come from very humble <br />backgrounds. They are not necessarily politicians or showmen, so when police <br />commissioners say, “Let’s have a big press release and have a big hoopla,” that’s <br />not their thinking. Their thinking is to get the facts out, get it to media, and hope that <br />the facts speak for themselves, and the media deals with it accordingly. He asked <br />Chief Kubojiri to tell them about the accurate survey. <br /> <br />Chief Kubojiri stated that contrary to the first article, the numbers indicate that the <br />public still has confidence in the police department. As soon as the survey was <br />done and completed, they made a press release on line on their website. The media <br />is a powerful tool. They have been working, going on five years, to have quarterly <br />meetings with the members of the media. They try to iron out problems of <br />communication and try to understand each other’s roles and what their expectations <br />are. They want better understanding of both sides. Their goal is to be as <br />transparent as legally possible and get information out to the public. The electronic <br />survey was done by a third party. It was posted on their website. His staff is