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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0021.068 2002-2004 MTV MI•• Harry Kim Lawrence K. Mahuna hlm~or Police C'luef - • Harry S. Kubojiri ••~'yo~•~,.~~ Deputy Police Chief County of Hawaii POLICE DEPARTMENT 349 Kapiolani titree[ • Hilo, Hawaii 96720-3998 (ROS)935-3311 • Fax (A08)961-8869 January 17, 2003 - TO JA ES Y. A~COUNCIL CHAIR AND COUNCIL MEMBERS FROM H S. B JI ,DEPUTY POLICE CHIEF - - SUBJECT FINAL REPORT Name of Grant Program: Sex Crimes Unit State Department of the Attorney General Crime Prevention and Justice Assistance Federal or State Grantor: Division County Grantee Department(Agency: County Police Department Grant No.: 01-DB-13 Amount of Grant: $171,629.00 Amount of County Match: $42,907.00 County Revenue & Expenditures Acct 010-201-5219.70 & 3302.45 Grant Period: December 1, 2001 -November 30, 2002 Goals: See attached Objectives: See attached Outcomes or Results: See attached. Comm. No. File No. Ref. To: G Ref. Date_,~2~_ ~ _ ~ Department of the Attorney General Crime Prevention & Justice Assistance Division PROGRESS REPORT CLOSING REPORT Project No.: O1-DB-13 Project Title: Sex Crimes Unit Agency: Hawaii County Police Department Person Completing Report: Glenn Uehana Phone: (8081961-8839 Project Period: December 31, 2001 to November 30. 2002 (Continuous Proiect) Report Period: December 31, 2001 to November 30, 2002 Date of Report: January 15, 2003 A. PROJECT DESCRIPTION This project is intended to improve the quality of the Hawaii Police Department's response to reports of sexual assaults perpetrated against adults and juveniles in the County of Hawaii. By design, the project provides for the formation of a "Sex Crimes Unit" (SCU) within the police department. Personnel assigned to the unit receive national training. One investigator in Kona and one in Hilo, assigned to the unit, are placed on "stand-by" to insure the rapid response to sexual assaults reported after normal duty hours. B. GOALS AND OBJECTNES 1. To improve the rate of prosecutable sexual assault investigations submitted to the prosecutor's office by 10% over the previous yeaz. The most recent and complete previous annual statistics for the period January 1, 2001, to November 30, 2001, the Hawaii County Police Department investigated 323 sexual assaults, 39 of which were accepted as being prosecutable. This is a 12% rate ofprosecution. For the period of December 31, 2001 , to November 30, 2002, the Sex Crimes Unit Hawaii County Police Department investigated 423 sexual assaults. Of the cases routed to the Prosecutor's office during this time period, 78 were accepted as being prosecutable. This reflects an 18% rate ofprosecution. This reflects a 6% increase in the number of prosecutable cases. Also, because of stafjshortages, there area small number of attorneys in Hilo and Kona who were screening cases island-wide, making the determination of whether or not the cases are prosecu- table. This "bottle-neck" has also been problematic, in that a large number of investigations referred to the prosecutor's office are held in a screening area. 2. "All of the detectives in the Sex Crimes Unit will be trained specialists in sexual assault investigations." From July 28-August 4, 2001, two detectives of the Sex Crimes Unit attended the Investigation of On-Line Child Exploitation class held in Sacramento, California. This training offered topics such as investigative software tools, On-line case investigation and tools, search warrants and raid issues and computer evidence issues and tools. From April 29-May 3, 2002, four members of the Sex Crimes Unit attended a Basic On-Line Computer Crime Investigation training session sponsored by the National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics, and held in Hilo, Hawaii. This training was provided and funded by the NCJIS. 3. "To increase law enforcement training in sex crimes for patrol officers and new re- cruits". A total of 27 in-service training sessions were held with patrol officers and their supervisors during the reporting period. 4. "To improve the immediate "after-hour" response of detectives to reported sexual assaults." From December 31, 2001 to November 30, 2002, the Sex Crimes Unit was assigned to a total of 30 sexual assaults reported after normal duty hours which required the immediate response of a detective. In all but three of these instances, a detective was assigned within five minutes ojthe lieutenant making the determination that immediate response was in order. The three exceptions were a result of a misunderstanding on the part of a supervisor making the assignment, believing that the "Time notified by patrol " is when the initial call is received, as opposed to the time that patrol contacts the JAS Lieutenant after confirming a sexual assault case that requires the presence of a detective. This mis-understanding has been clarified. C. PROJECT ACTIVITIES On January 1, 2000, the Hawaii County Police Department formed a seven member Sex Crimes Unit. Two of these positions aze currently funded by this project. Since the start of this project, detectives assigned to the Sex Crimes Unit have Conducted monthly "In-Service" training sessions with the Patrol Division. A minimum of two sessions are held each month. On January 31, 2002, members of the Sex Crimes Unit executed a search warrant on the residence of a suspect in the Hawaiian Acres Subdivision. This individual had been bringing teenaged females to his farm under the pretext of hiring them for his coffee farming business. While on his property, he used a computer to show the females pornographic images. During the execution of this warrant, his computer was recovered by the team. On February 26, 2002, members of the Sex Crimes Unit provided assistance to the FBI in the planning of the execution of a search warrant of residence in the Orchidland Subdivision, in which a suspect allegedly subscribed to an on-line service that provided images of child pornography. On May 28, 2002, Sex Crimes Detectives arrested a suspect for Attempted Sexual Assault, after he was identified as being observed within a van on an unconscious female. Investigation led to the charging of this individual. He was on probation for the sexual assault of another female in an unrelated incident. On August O2, 2002, Sex Crimes Detectives assisted the Los Angeles Police Department in questioning a local male for a sexual assault which occurred approximately 2S years prior. A confession was obtained. On I2-04-2002, the male appeared in L.A. County Superior Court, where he pled guilty to all charges. A detective on each side of the island is on standby seven days a week. This is inclusive of weekends and the period after normal working hours during the workweek. D. EVALUATION This project is being evaluated by the success of attaining the following objectives: 1. Improve the rate of prosecutable sexual assault investigations being submitted to the prosecutor's office by 10% over the previous yeaz. Most recent statistics reflect a 6% increase in the amount of prosecutable cases being submitted to the prosecutor's oj~ce during this reporting period. This percentage is expected to improve, as there is an unavoidable lag time from the time the prosecutor's office receives cases for review to the time these cases are determined to be prosecutable or not. 2. All of the detectives in the Sex Crimes Unit will be trained specialists in sexual assault investigations. All seven detectives originally assigned to the SCU have attended national training on the issue of sexual assault investigations. 3. To increase law enforcement training in sex crimes for patrol officers and new recruits. Members of the SCU conduct a minimum of two training sessions with the patrol division each month. A total of 27 training sessions were conducted with the patrol division during this reporting period. 4. To improve the immediate "after-hour" response of detectives to reported sexual assaults. During this reporting period there were thirty instances whereby a detective needed to be assigned immediately to a sexual assault reported after nor- mal duty hours. In all instances, except three, a detective was assigned within f[ve minutes. The exceptions were a result of a misunderstanding of the criteria of the assignment times involved. E. PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED One problem encountered is the inherent delay in response from the prosecutor's office relative to the amount of prosecutable cases they receive. This is due to an unavoidable lag time from the time the prosecutor's office receives a case for review to the time these cases aze determined to be prosecuted or not. When the review of these investigations aze completed, it is expected that the rate of prosecu- table cases will improve. Another problem encountered, which also cannot be avoided, are the cases received for investigation during the latter part of the progress report period which aze still being investigated. These unavoidable problems make it difficult to determine if the goal, "to improve The rate of prosecutable sexual assault investigations submitted to the prosecutor's office by 10% over the previous year" is being met during a progress report's one year reporting period. Report prepared by: I ~ ~ ..`t`~-C- ~ l L. ~ Glenn Y. Uehana January 15, 2003