2014-02-21 Police Commission Regular Minutes

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Hawai‘i Police Commission Regular Minutes February 21, 2014 Page 2 arteries; HPP is an example. They email crime reports to neighborhood watches so they can be on the lookout and call them. They have had very good response from the community. Arrests have been made, but keeping people in jail is an issue. The Special Enforcement Unit conducts pawn shop checks regularly, and they have friendly working relationships. In Kona, the crime trend is homelessness and juveniles drinking in public. CPOs continue to work with the public and various county agencies. They also use bike patrols. Ka‘u has made some arrests, and CPO is monitoring. Traffic report by area, category, and trends. Assistant Chief Kealoha reported that traffic crashes, fatalities, DUI fatalities, and DUI arrests are down. The trends is an increase in Puna traffic accidents, especially in the morning because of the long snaked-traffic. Commissioner Ono stated that his observation is that people in Kona drive a lot faster than people in Kona. AC Tavares said the difference is that Kona has more roadways for speeding such as the Queen K, Kuakini, and Route 121 stretches. Hilo is more urban with limited areas for speeding. AC Kealoha stated that North and South Kona covers the area from the City of Refuge to Saddle Road. Kona has a lot of roadways for speeding. The Traffic Enforcement Units fall under one Major island-wide, so they are able to deploy people where they are needed. They work together and do not have boundaries. Commissioner Victorine pointed out that TEU also investigates traffic fatalities. AC Tavares said that takes a lot of man hours. Personnel report on vacancies, recruitment, training, promotions, reallocations, severance from service, and work assignments. Assistant Chief Kanehailua reported that with the new recruits on the road, their sworn vacancy is at 15. They are trying to start a new recruit class in July. The Chief is looking to fill critical positions with sergeant/detective promotions in April. They started the PO III recruitment. Within the next few years they will be looking at a high number of officers who will qualify for retirement. They are preparing for it with recruitments. They have 15 civilian vacancies. They filled 3 dispatch positions. Their criminalist will be retiring, and the position will be posted. CALEA personnel is going around to the districts checking on compliance issues and getting ready for mock exercises. The radio system upgrade went up for bid. They are looking to upgrade their CAD and records management system. Finance report of budget and expenditures. AC Kanehailua reported that overtime is creeping up, but that coincides with vacancies. They are in the budget process and will meet with the County’s Finance Committee in April. They trimmed as much as they could.