2013-08-23 Police Commission Minutes

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Hawai‘i Police Commission Regular Session Minutes August 23, 2013 Page 2 homeless and juvenile drinking. They have increased their presence in patrol, foot, and bicycles. Traffic report by area, category, and trends: Assistant Chief Kealoha reported that the fatality count has gone down for the same time last year. They have not seen any significant traffic trends. The Traffic Enforcement Unit continues to focus in high traffic areas. They anticipate an impact in South Kohala due to the new saddle road and speeding on that road. It will be pretty hard to maintain a 55 mph speed limit when going down hill. They are considering solar speed signs but are concerned about equipment safety. They will be patrolling aggressively in the area. Personnel report on vacancies, recruitment, training, promotions, reallocations, severance from service, and work assignments: Assistant Chief Kanehailua reported that 30 recruits will start this month. This is the largest class in a long time. Two recruits are intergovernmental movements. They are expected to graduate in March 2014. Lieutenant promotions were made. They have 18 funded civilian vacancies. As always, they are having a difficult time filling the school crossing guard positions.Regarding the Aloha Training, they have gotten memos from attendees saying how wonderful the training was. The feedback was amazing. They will schedule more classes and online video. Finance report of budget and expenditures: Assistant Chief Kanehailua reported that they will start next year’s budget process in September. ommendations of sworn and civilian employees: C Chief Kubojiri reported receiving seven commendations involving 37 personnel since the last meeting. Other departmental activities: Chief Kubojiri reported that the arbitrated wage given to SHOPO members is not in the current budget because it was arbitrated after the budget was approved. Human Resources wants them to postpone the recruitment testing to the next fiscal year. He doesn’t want to do that because the screening process is very long, and that is only the first test. Human Resources does all testing for county employees, and the police department does not want to do its own testing. The police department’s Criminal Investigation Unit (CIU) does the background checks. They also do background checks for the state and the judiciary. This year they got ten new sworn positions, five in Puna and five in Ka’u. Vice Chair Ignacio stated that she likes having HR do the testing. In the past, people thought the promotions were not done honorably by the police department. Perception becomes people’s reality. Chief Kubojiri stated that when the list of eligible applicants comes to the police department, that list goes directly to the Chief of Administration, not to him. The only time he sees the name is when the person is being recommended for hire.