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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN PSC 2020/06/16 2018-2020Committee on Public Safety 1Oth Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawai i June 16, 2020 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Public Safety was called to order ORDER: at 9:21 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Chair (via videoconference from Kona) Ms. Karen Eoff, Vice Chair (via videoconference from Kona) Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member (via videoconference from Kona) Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member Ms. Valerie T. Poindexter, Member Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Member CHR. VILLEGAS: At this time, I'd like to ask Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, what's your preference on this? MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Chair, with yours and the Clerk's approval, I'd like to ask that today we have the Hawaii Police Department address us before we proceed. This provides us a little bit more opportunity to clarify many of the questions we and the community have. CHR. VILLEGAS: That's fine with me. At this time, I'd just like to ask the Clerk, then do we need to read the communication in first before the presentation from the Police Department? MR. BROWN: Yes we do, Madam Chair. CHR. VILLEGAS: Okay, Mr. Clerk, please read in Communication 978. Change Order As directed by the Chair and with no objection from the Council Members, of Business: the following item was taken out of order: Comm. 978: REQUESTS A DISCUSSION WITH THE HAWAII POLICE DEPARTMENT REGARDING THE TREND OF INCREASED MISSING CHILDREN IN THE COUNTY OF HAWAII From Council Member Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, dated June 4, 2020. PSC -10 June 16, 2020 Motion to Close File: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to close file on Comm. 978. Second by Ms. Lee Loy. CHR. VILLEGAS: At this time, Matt would you like to call on and announce the members of the Police Department who are present? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Mahalo Chair. Yes I will. Just want to say a few things first. Aloha, good morning, my name is Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Council Person for District 5. I thank everyone for coming in person today, as well as those who are attending via the County livestream, as well as through other social media portals. I requested a public hearing for Communication 978 because of the troubling trend on social media, Facebook, Instagram, all regarding missing and runaway teenagers on Hawaii Island. I also reviewed official government sponsored websites for information and clarification on the issue in front of us today. Furthermore, our office has come to understand that due to quarantine measures, there's been an impact on the social service program providers as well. Since the notice of the hearing being scheduled, our office and my personal cellphone has been bombarded with phone calls and emails. We've received more than 400 communications from the public. I've asked multiple government agencies to attend to provide information on the issue of runaway and missing children here on Hawaii Island. No one was required to attend, and I will be asking those agencies present to provide a briefing on how they address this issue; their responsibilities, and any suggestions they may have to approve, improve, and effectively address the issue of missing and runaway children on Hawaii Island. The goal for today is to gather information so we can move forward as a community with a coordinated plan for the Hawaii County. This issue is not going to be resolved today, but we are going to have a discussion or start the discussion. With that said, again, our officers from the Hawaii Police Department, please come up. (Note: At this time, Hawaii Police Department Area 1 Juvenile Aid Section Lieutenant Sandor Finkey and Criminal Investigation Division Captain Gregory Esteban came forward to address the members of the Committee.) Thank you for being here today, gentlemen. Please introduce yourselves for the public. Page 2 PSC -10 June 16, 2020 LT. FINKEY: I'm Sandor Finkey, Lieutenant of the Area 1 Juvenile Aid Section for the Hawaii Police Department. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. CPT. ESTEBAN: Good morning, Greg Esteban, CID (Criminal Investigation Division) Captain. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, sir. So I just have a few questions, just want to get some basic information. There's a lot of questions out there from the public and from my own office as well. Can you explain how HCPD (Hawai`i County Police Department) classifies missing or runaway children? LT. FINKEY: A runaway is a status offense and we take a report. A patrol responds to the reporting party's residence or guardian's residence, and if a child or minor under the age of 18 has left without permission, it's classified as a runaway. Once that occurs our patrol will make checks for the runaway. They'll generate an island -wide be on the lookout for the runaway. And they'll also have media release waiver and obtain a photograph from the parent or the guardian. The case is, if the runaways are unable to be located then what happens is the cases will end up with the Juvenile Aid Section. If we're unable to locate a runaway and we have a photograph and a signed media release waiver, we'll put out a media release with regard to requesting the public's assistance. Now we do have a missing child case, which is a missing person case, and the circumstances there's a spectrum with regard to these minors who runaway and we also have, in this case, our single active missing person endangered child case, Benny Rapoza, from December. He's a six-year-old male who is autistic and he went missing from a residence that he was staying with his family. So that being said, when that occurred, we have a missing six-year-old. What happens is we activate everybody we can to go down there. We also request assistance from multi -agencies: State, County, Federal, Fire Department, Coast Guard. We also notify the National Center for Missing Endangered Children. That kind of gives you an idea of the difference between the two types of missing children. Now we have labeled the children reported as runaways that we haven't been able to locate in our media releases as missing children, because we just simply don't know where they are. We don't have an indication on their whereabouts. We had not been using the term runaway in our media releases since 1999 as a header. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: And can I ask, why is that? Page 3 PSC -10 June 16, 2020 LT. FINKEY: Yes, it's easily discounted by the public in terms of the need to find the child. If somebody says, "Oh, this child, he's a runaway," as opposed to a missing child there's less focus on it by the public. And that was the initial take on it. However in the recent circumstances, there's a growing misconception in terms of the immediate danger with regard to the children if they're a runaway. And so, if the media release goes out we would just label them as missing. So we're visiting that in our department. I've called other agencies to find out how, if they first of all put out a media release with regard to runaway children, and if they labeled them as runaways. And then we're presenting that to our Administration and looking at including that classification as runaway as a possibility, but we're still within that process of presenting that to the Administration to provide some clarity along those lines. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yes, that was one of the questions that came up. You know, when you pull up your media releases, it's missing children, but there's also the runaway aspect. So thank you for clarifying that. What are the frequent causes of these cases that you've seen? LT. FINKEY: There's numerous explanations why a child would run away. There's conflict, unhappiness, possible physical or sexual abuse; psychological trauma, drug use. The juvenile may want to be with their boyfriend or girlfriend. The juveniles sometimes offer a reason why they left. Sometimes they don't say anything at all. The other thing that I'd like to mention is, I went through the past five years of runaway cases, and I compared last year's to this year's. Last year for the first six months of the year, we had 162 cases, and this year we have 152. The previous four years; in 2019 we had 417, 2018 we had 477, 2017 we had 499, and 2016 we had 458. Now, I do want to clarify that those are specific reports of runaway. And what happens is, there are a lot of juveniles who runaway, get contacted, taken in by police; released to guardianship, back to their parent, and they run away again. So these numbers don't indicate specific amounts of children because we have multiple juveniles who run away repeatedly. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: There's certain redundancy in those numbers because you're having the same children with the same issues at home or whatever circumstance they're faced with. LT. FINKEY: In the past month, we've already had three who we picked up and within 48 hours they've run away again. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: So we're dealing with some possible underlying issues there in these families? Page 4 PSC -10 June 16, 2020 LT. FINKEY: Yeah, there are numerous issues. Some of these kids are in foster care; some of them are in interim care, the Salvation Army Interim Home. Others are under the care of their parents so they'll go back. If we have a child who is in the foster system, we'll always check prior to releasing the child who the child is going to go to. And that's usually in our be on the lookout instructions. There is the factor that when we locate a juvenile, say they report that a crime has been committed or we have evidence that a crime has been committed, then we investigate that. You know, we have charged out two separate adults in the past six months with regard to sexual assault investigations related to runaway minors. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yeah, thank you for doing that. LT. FINKEY: So there's any number of reasons that a child would run away. And the other thing is we're actively investigating any criminal aspects of that as well. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, thank you. And these are only the reported numbers, yeah? Because there are cases where these are not reported. LT. FINKEY: Absolutely. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, thank you. When someone calls in a report, who do we find to be a credible source, you know, for the information? Is it family? And I'm talking on both ends, when the report is called in for a missing child, or when the report is called in that the child has been found or has returned home. Who's considered a credible source for that information? LT. FINKEY: Okay, when you discuss the report actually being initiated, anyone can be a reporting party to the child being a runaway. Say, it's CWS (Child Welfare Services) who had the child in foster care or they were going to go pick up the child from a home, from parental care and the children ran away, CWS can make the report. A family member can make that report, so that's not really an issue when it comes to who can make the report. I mean anybody can be a reporting party. It doesn't necessarily have to be the actual guardian themselves. Now to address the found aspect, when we make a case for runaway or for a missing child or missing person, we the police have to actually physically contact that child; see them face to face. We can't talk to a parent which is why we have a couple cases outstanding from 2019. We can't talk to a parent or family member. They tell us, "Hey, you know, the kid's been staying with grandma." We talk to grandma, "Yeah, he's here off and on." We go to the house, the child is not there. We can't close that case; we won't close that case until we have eyes on that child. Page 5 PSC -10 June 16, 2020 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you for clarifying that because, you know, I have some concerns about that. A lot of the community is concerned when these kids are returning home, who can verify that they're home, and how do we verify that they actually are in the house; or, I mean, who's calling that information in? LT. FINKEY: We do. The police does, and if we generate a case, we're not going to close a case without seeing the child. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, thank you. LT. FINKEY: Or at least, it shouldn't be closed without seeing a child. I don't know of any circumstances where there were. But we should be eyes on physically confirming and verifying the health and safety of that child. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Is there a protocol between State, other agencies and yourself when a child goes missing? LT. FINKEY: What happens is we work with a lot of different agencies. In fact when we do have a child reported as missing or runaway, we're mandated within two hours to have that child's name, birthday, and physical description entered into the National Database JJIS (Juvenile Justice Information System), which is under the NCIC (National Crime Information Center) database for missing kids, so that's entered nationally. That way if anybody tries to get on a plane or get out of here or turns up trying to do certain things, you know, apply for certain documents or whatever, it'll send up a flag in the system. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: So within two hours of a child being reported missing or runaway? LT. FINKEY: Yes, the officer has to contact our dispatch and provide the information and it gets entered into a national database. Now on top of that, if we have say a missing child like Benny Rapoza, six -years -old, then what happens is we call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and we provide them with the same thing; with our case number, a physical description of the child. We provide them with a photograph, the last known whereabouts; any peripheral information. What happens is, they generate fliers; they also do social media. They can do a national level social media output. And if necessary, like in Benny Rapoza's case, we also have Nixle, which can target social media. It targets cellular phones within a geographic area or statewide if we deem the need for that. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Missing and exploited children's number? Page 6 PSC -10 June 16, 2020 LT. FINKEY: 1 -800 -THE -LOST. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. And what are the qualifiers for, like you're saying Benny Rapoza? LT. FINKEY: We take into consideration their age, their mental health capacity, their physical capacity. In his case, he's non-verbal, autistic. He's only six -years -old. He doesn't clothe himself, he wears a diaper. Normally, we would be notifying the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for anybody who's under the age of 14. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: What became apparent was finding the information for who's missing, who's been found; who's an active case, who's an inactive case. For myself, it was hard to find. LT. FINKEY: It's daunting, did you have more to your question? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: No, we're looking for solutions here long-term. So this is one thing that I've noticed is that it's very hard to put the information together and pull up a very up-to-date list. LT. FINKEY: There's several reasons for that. When we take a runaway report, we need an immediate release waiver otherwise we can't put out the name of the child, we can't put out a physical description, we can't put out a photograph. So if the parent or guardian doesn't sign that form, we cannot put out a media release. So what you're looking at when you see a media release from us, is you're looking at circumstances where we were able to get a media release signed, we were able to get a photograph and we were unable to locate that juvenile. So that's what you're seeing when you see the media release. You're not seeing just because we put out, say 14 or 15 media releases in the past two or three months, does doesn't encompass the total amount of runaways that we've had. And also I confirmed that the statewide databases which are run by Missing Child Center, Hawaii, DHS (Department of Human Services), they're updated separately. Foster children are updated by DHS's site, and non -foster children are updated by Missing Child Center, Hawaii. So you have different agencies updating the site at different times. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I noticed that. LT. FINKEY: I had a list of several media contact me with the list of several names and almost half of that list had already been located. When we put out a media release and we do locate somebody, the juvenile, we will often try at times to put out an update to that media release. Sometimes our patrol will locate a juvenile and we won't find out about it till later. At that point, I'll try to update it Page 7 PSC -10 June 16, 2020 with an updated media release with regard that they'd been located or in good health. There's other times where, if we have located a runaway that has been involved in a sexual assault, we can't put out that we've located them and what their health status is. We've had that several times. So that's the issue with an exact list of identifiable children with regard to that. So there's a number of different factors which play into that. I mean at any given time we could have eight to 15 runaways, and that's just the amount of runaways which have come for continued investigation to my section. When I talk about continued investigation, we look at the circumstances surrounding the case; we look at the relatives. We also look at the social media, if the child has any social media presence. We also look at the fact if they have a cellular telephone, look at tracking possibilities with regard to that, any apps they might be using. And then we go forward with that. A lot of times we'll get information that a child is staying with a certain family member or at a certain location, and we'll go there and they won't be there. And then we get additional information that they left or they were hiding. So we'll go back and they won't be there again. So we have cases that are outstanding which we believe that the child is safe. However, we can't actually physically put eyes on them at this point. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Before I yield, I just wanted to say thank you for helping with the cult we had on the island. And I really appreciate your efforts and I see Mitch Roth behind you. So, I was going to call up Mitch Roth. Thank you for your time today. LT. FINKEY: You're welcome. I'd just like to add one final thing. This starts in the home, and for the children who aren't in foster care, we want parents to talk to their kids candidly about what can happen if they run away for prolonged periods of time. Even if they run away for a night. We want them to know what their kids are doing on social media; who their friends are. We also have a list of different apps that parents should be looking out for. I can provide that to you at the end of the Council meeting. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. LT. FINKEY: So we just want to make sure that if a juvenile does run away, then the parent is equipped with all these other tools that we can use to help locate the child. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, sir. Mitch, you want to come up? Page 8 PSC -10 June 16, 2020 (Note: At this time, Prosecuting Attorney Mitch Roth came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. ROTH: Aloha. Good morning. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Good morning, sir. MR. ROTH: So for the Prosecutor's Office, traditionally unless a case is made for prosecution, it won't come to the Prosecutor's Office. Runaway cases general go to the Attorney General's, they don't come to our office. But that's under the traditional approach. Our office has been very proactive in looking at things, and so rather than just waiting for stuff to happen we have several groups that we meet with. We have our CP JAG (Crime Prevention — Justice Assistance Grant), our Justice Systems Group. And they meet with teachers; they meet with faith leaders; they meet with domestic violence providers. You know, other non- profits. And then we meet people from the public that, you know, bring up issues. I see my friend from the Hawaiian Nation outside. Gene Tamashiro brought this issue up, and I understand there was a Facebook post where they were talking about thousands of kids going missing. So we invited them to come talk to us hoping that we could get names, because we often hear that there's people who are, I'll use the term, "Boogieman snatched." Kind of taken, and we tried to get those people together. So for example at that meeting we brought some people from the Hawaiian Kingdom. One of the officers sat them together. We explained the kind of the facts that Lieutenant Finkey is explaining. But then we also tried to build partnerships, and so we have several of these partnerships where we're trying to find actual people locations. You know, we have a lot of people coming in from the public. Maybe they will give us specific people who are doing this or specific locations. But for law enforcement, we're not seeing a lot of that done. That people are actually providing. Just to give you an idea, runaway is by far the biggest issue for juveniles that we have on this island. In 2008, we had a high 853 runaways. In 2017, that number came down to 499, and it sounds like at this point, at half a year, we're at 152. So they're actually coming down a little bit. And I didn't hear Lieutenant Finkey bring this up, but one of the things that's happening is, it used to take a longer period of time for the Police to put these missing person's ads up. And my understanding is that you guys are getting them up within a week rather than within two months. So that's kind of significant. When people see more of these things, people get upset. And I agree with the idea of putting them out as missing persons rather than runaways because when you have a missing person and the picture goes Page 9 PSC -10 June 16, 2020 upI was talking to a mother just the other day who verified this for me. Their child called and said, "Take that down, it's embarrassing. Stop it, I'm fine." But that's important. You know, we want to make sure that these kids are found, and that they're fine, and that they're safe, and that they're healthy. So the other things that our office does is we help start something called BIJIAC with the Salvation, which is the Big Island Juvenile Intake Assessment Center. And so the way BIJIAC works, is they will take the juveniles to Salvation Army BIJIAC. They'll do assessment and they'll start actually getting services for these kids. A lot of times the kids that we're seeing, or they're seeing at BIJIAC, are the same kids over and over again. But part of the idea is if we can get services in earlier, the likelihood that these kids will continue to run away goes down. One of the things, I think, when we look at what are some of the causes at the roots of these problems, we look at first, childhood experiences. A lot of the kids have come from homes of domestic violence. Domestic violence is one of those key indicators for us, because if a child is going through trauma in the household, that child has much more likelihood of not only running away but having some other issues that have impacts on our community. And so, the better we can do working with our nonprofit providers; the Boys and Girls Club, the Turning Point for Families, Child and Family Services, the better we can reduce these numbers in the future. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Mitch. MR. ROTH: Thank you. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I'm just going to leave with one statistic that I thought was very interesting. There's a sex trafficking report done and the individuals in that reportthere's about 400 individuals who are, you know, surveyed and questioned about what had happened in their lifetimes. And of those 400, 95 percent said they had runaway experiences when they were children. And so, when we talk about runaway and missing children, there's some other things at work. And I have a lot of concern about that. So, thank you for bringing that up. MR. ROTH: And that's actually a really good point, because I know a lot of people are concerned about sex trafficking, which I'm going to say, we do have on this island, but it's not what a lot of people are thinking is the primary cause. Like I said, we don't have a lot of people being, "Boogieman snatched," taken out. But when you have a minor that, you know, doesn't have a place to stay, and all of a sudden, is trading sex for a place to stay; or sex for drugs and stuff. That technically is sex trafficking. When you have prostitution with a pimp, that technically is sex trafficking. You don't have to be necessarily, "Boogieman snatched," taken away to have sex trafficking. And, you know, unfortunately a Page 10 PSC -10 June 16, 2020 lot of times victims of sex trafficking don't even realize that they're being sex trafficked. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Can you give us a definition of sex trafficking? MR. ROTH: Anytime a minor is trading anything for sex, that's going to be sex trafficking. Anytime you have someone who is, you know, forced to do something for sex, whether it be prostitution; whether it be, you know, holding your rent, that technically can be sex trafficking. It doesn't have to be someone who is abducted to make it sex trafficking. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you for allowing me and giving me extra time. And for everyone outside waiting to testify, again we thought this would be ideal, to have our local authorities discuss and have this discussion with the Council so that we can provide some answers to questions. And then let people testify from there. I yield for now. Thank you for the time, Chair. CHR. VILLEGAS: Aloha, thank you so much for sharing. I think we have some questions from Chair Chung. MR. CHUNG: Thank you. Lieutenant, you know those numbers that you gave, I think Mitch first said, in 2008, there were 800 plus cases of runaways. And then, 2017, 490. From 2017, can you go all the way up present? LT. FINKEY: Yeah, 2017, there were 499. And I got these numbersI asked our Records Section, how to do the search. And they showed me how to do the search and that's how I got these numbers. These are directly from our Records Management. In 2016, 458 runaway cases; 2017, 499; 2018, 477; 2019, 417, and there is one missing child which is Benny Rapoza. In 2020, we have 152. MR. CHUNG: Okay, if you guys extrapolate that, about 300 we're going to have this year? LT. FINKEY: A lot of times it picks up towards the end of the year. So we might be under or close to 400. MR. CHUNG: Okay, but it looks like it's kind of steady or maybe decreasing, right, a little bit? LT. FINKEY: Yeah, it's actually decreased from last year, but these things ebb and flow. MR. CHUNG: Okay. Yeah, and you know, this is not meant as a criticism to Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder in any way, shape or form. But, you know, this transmittal came to me for requesting a breach because we're talking about the Page 11 PSC -10 June 16, 2020 safety of children. It mentioned that there is an alarming trend of increased missing children in Hawaii County. So I figured since there is an increasing trend, we better address it. But it doesn't seem that there's an increasing trend. I just want to make sure, okay, because we're getting information out there, and we want to make sure that information is correct to the public. LT. FINKEY: Exactly, and I can address that. There's an increase in our media releases. And there's an increase in our media releases because we're working with our Patrol Section to decrease the time that it takes. We're also having them follow-up, and we're following up on cases where we don't have the media waivers or we don't have good photos, or any photos at all. We're getting those and we're getting them done. We're getting these media releases out. We've also provided our patrol in-service training in terms of what it takes to get the cases routed to my section, and it's three simple things. You make your checks and BOLO (Be on the Lookout) for your runaway. You get a current photo and you get the media waivers signed. Then my section can take it. And as soon as I get those cases with those elements, I can put out that media release. So you're seeing a higher frequency of media releases in the past few months because that's what's happening. MR. CHUNG: But not an alarming increase of missing children, though? LT. FINKEY: No. According to the numbers, it's actually a decrease. MR. CHUNG: Oh decreasing, okay. And with regard to the media releases, though, because I see them in the paper, where else? On the radio, where else do you have them? LT. FINKEY: They go out on our website. I believe our department just got a social media page, and they get sent out to different media agencies by our media liaison. MR. CHUNG: Because, you know, I think the two of you know that I work in the area of Child Protective Services, right? I work very closely with the Department of Human Services and that was my understanding, you know, that the incidence of missing children were not as great as they were in the past. So I was kind of taken by surprise on this. But let's cut through to the chase on this, you know. There's been some reports on social media, or you know, some accounts on social media regarding a kidnapping ring. Even my daughter came back one day saying, "Hey guess what, there's a kidnapping ring. You know, they mark the cars and then they'll grab you." Page 12 PSC -10 June 16, 2020 LT. FINKEY: We received that same information. I believe it came over a Law Enforcement Information portal for us where they said that the cars were being marked with tape or zip ties and the children were being trafficked, but we haven't had any reported incidences of that. MR. CHUNG: So to the best of your knowledge, there is no such thing? I mean you guys are investigating it, of course. LT. FINKEY: We haven't received any information with regard to any specific kidnapping ring or anything of that nature so far. And if we did we would be investigating it and we would be cautioning the public if we had specific information about stuff that was going on. MR. CHUNG: And you would work closely with Mitch's office in that regard? LT. FINKEY: Absolutely. MR. CHUNG: And Mitch, you haven't heard anything in that regard? MR. ROTH: Yeah, I've talked to a lot of people that have brought this up. We've had conversations. Again, we haven't seen any specific cases where we have known actors or known people being abducted or anything like that. MR. CHUNG: Okay, good. Because that's the 800 pound gorilla, right, in the room, because if there's no increase in the amount of runaways that we're having per year, this is the only variable. This whole thing that's been coming up in social media, you know, I'm not a social media guy but I've heard about it, okay. So from your perspective, you guys investigate if there is a need or if you guys have reliable leads, but right now there's nothing to indicate that there is such a thing. LT. FINKEY: That's correct. MR. CHUNG: Okay. Also, let me give you guys my perspective on this whole runaway situation too, okay? You know, just to dispel any notion that there is this epidemic of runaways. As I've said, I've worked in the CPS (Child Protective Services) area for almost 30 years, and most of these runaway cases, I hate to say, are related to Child Protective Services. They're either going to run away from foster homes; run away from the interim home or runaway from an abusive situation. Very plain and simple. I have one case, and this is almost emblematic of many other cases. The guy ran away from the Kona interim home, came to a Hilo interim home; ran away three times. And not by himself, always it's with other kids. All of those are going to trigger runaway incident reports. So you're talking about ten right there, right? They run away from their foster homes, and not because of an abusive situation Page 13 PSC -10 June 16, 2020 per say, but they just don't like it, right? Who the hell wants to be in a foster home? And a lot of times, because I represent parents as well, the parents know where the kids are. It's not a good situation, but they feel that the kids are safe where they are rather than being in a foster placement. That's a fact. So I will say a lot of these things are run by CPS. I mean I hate to say it, you know, because it's Child Protective Services, right? But it's just kind of counterintuitive, right? You know, the whole concept, but it really is. I have to believe over 90 percent of them are related to Child Protective Services. So anyway, but thank you for your good work. And you know, if there is something that needs to be done, let us know by all means. I mean if there is a kidnapping ring, please do whatever you can to nip it in the bud, and you know, protect the safety of our children and our community. LT. FINKEY: Absolutely. MR. CHUNG: Thank you. CHR. VILLEGAS: Thank you, Chair Chung. Does anyone else have any other questions? In that case, I just have a couple of questions, real fast. So nothing per say has been specifically reported to you? I mean I've seen a number of posts on social media with actual photographs of the blue tape on a car. One of my daughter's best friend's had a circumstance that sounds very similar to what some of these stories that are being circulated. What would be the most ideal protocol for sharing these stories and for encouraging people that may have witnessed or had close encounters or experiences? And is there an opportunity for sharing of social media posts? If you guys have a social media site? Is that an opportunity? LT. FINKEY: Yeah, what the protocol is if you see this stuff happening, and a lot of times social media is a shared post. If you know of this happening or who this happened to, have that person call the police so we can document the incident. If there's any crime committed and we can investigate it, and if it's in a public area, say like a store parking lot, we can look for video surveillance. Essentially, the basics of a criminal investigation, in terms of just a social media post, we have to tell people if it's happening; if it happened to you or if it happened to your friend, have your friend or whoever it happened to call us so we can document it. And if it happens after this point, call us so we can go down there and take a look at it, what it is, say if it's tape on your rear window wiper or anything along those lines. CHR. VILLEGAS: Zip ties is another one I've heard. LT. FINKEY: Yeah, if that is occurring call us so we can, at the very least, document when and where and try to find out who's doing it and what their motivations are. Page 14 PSC -10 June 16, 2020 CHR. VILLEGAS: Thank you. And just for the sake of the public, and I know that Nancy Cook Lauer is here. In disseminating this information, is there a specific team working on this? Is there is a specific person that they should ask for or phone number that they should call in order to be most directly connected to someone who would have the training and the sensitivity to help manage somebody who might be already feeling traumatized and worried. And just how to get them most directly connected to someone who can guide them through the process of reliving the experience or talking about it or most effectively sharing what happened. LT. FINKEY: Okay, our Patrol Section is going to be the initial responder for any sort of initial call that goes through dispatch. Now if there's something that is identified as possibly related or there is traumatic incidence, we have detectives in my section who work with items like that and just a basic statement. Especially we did this with sexual assaults. A basic statement is taken from the reporting party. Sometimes the victim, if it's a juvenile, is not even interviewed at that point. And then my detectives will set up an interview with a specialized they are trained in interviewing children and we also have a Children's Justice Center which does forensic interviews as well. So if it's an adult, same thing, if there is something relative to sex trafficking or sex assault, it will be sent to my section and we will continue with an interview by one of my detectives. CHR. VILLEGAS: Thank you so much for that. And I just have one last question, because it was concerning to me that, you know, Mr. RothI guess it's concerning, but it's also validating to acknowledging that we have sex trafficking occurring here on the Big Island and I'm assuming within the State in a broader capacity. And so it was something when I was younger I also worked with teenage foster kids and I'm familiar with some of that. The system and running away and whatnot, and that a lot of times we look at the runaways. I have huge concerns about the sex trafficking issues and the variety and diversity of circumstances in which it may be occurring. And so I just want to make sure also that we acknowledge. I want to thank Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder for bringing this to our attention so we can more accurately and with a better sense of, you know, the actual numbers take a look at what we have as far as missing children. But I also want to acknowledge how important it is to have these conversations. We like to think we don't have sex trafficking issues here on the island. We in the last week have had some really interesting occurrences with a cult group that came here that had children in some really less than ideal circumstances being exposed to being sexualized in ways that I don't think the court would agree were appropriate. So I just thank you guys for the work that Page 15 PSC -10 June 16, 2020 you're doing and I ask that you continue to keep us updated, because the more the community knows and the more educated we are, the more we can keep our eyes out for what those signs are and what the symptoms are that are exhibited. And none of us like to think that's happening here in our community, but it seems to be a pervasive theme in the whispering and the talking. But specifics seem to still evade us. LT. FINKEY: On that note, I'd just like to add, a lot of times the survivors and victims of sex trafficking are hesitant to come forward, simply because they think they're going to get prosecuted for prostitution. There's a negative stigma towards that, and there's also a lot of times if they're being pimped out, they're afraid of retaliation from whoever is pimping them out. Every runaway that has been involved in a sexual assault investigation that has come before us, we're always asking those questions. And we also have people to follow-up with services and therapy in order to try to determine whether or not these victims of sexual assault have been trafficked. At this point, we just want to get that out there that if somebody is being coerced or forced or told that they have to have sex in order to obtain food, or a place to stay, or any number of things; a ride, that they can come forward to us and tell us this. And they need to realize that is a way bigger problem than the prostitution aspect, and actually the prostitution aspect is an element of the crime of sex trafficking. So we need them to not fear telling us that this is happening to them so we can come forward and we can do something. Because as Mitch Roth said, you know, we don't doubt that anywhere that you have a criminal element; anywhere that you have drugs; anywhere that you have vulnerable runaways out there, there's a possibility that this trafficking is going to occur. And that's why we want to get that information out there that these types of predators who do this are dangerous. I mean, we've had these juveniles who have been sexually assaulted and they've been harmed not just mentally but they've been physically harmed. So, you know, those are the types of things which people need to let us know about. If, say they're close with a child that runs away and this is disclosed to them. By all means call us so we can investigate it. That's what I wanted to close with. CHR. VILLEGAS: Thank you. And I was just watching the mini-series about Jeffrey Epstein. And I also, you know, just want to point out that it happens in affluent communities as well and those that feel that they are above the law because the amount of resources they may have. And so, tragically none of us are completely immune to a predatorial capacity, but some people maintain. And with that, I'm sorry, Chair Chung you had another question? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Chair, can I add one more comment? CHR. VILLEGAS: Yes, sure, go ahead Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Page 16 PSC -10 June 16, 2020 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I think what I'm getting from today is that we are working on the problem, missing children in our County, but what I'm also hearing is that these families and these children, they need validation. And that's our responsibility. As elected officials it's our responsibility to have this discussion, so that when people who are watching see this, they know that they can trust us. That's what's important. If 152 missing cases have been reported this year, that's almost one a day. So for us to dismiss that lightly is a mistake and it does not build trust in the community. Compared to our COVID (Coronavirus) reaction with no deaths, one hospitalization, less than 100 confirmed infections, we spent millions. So I'm going to leave that as my closing remark for today. But it's our job, it's our responsibility to take care of these kinds of issues in our community. I do appreciate your time today, officers. Mitch Roth, thank you. And thank you, Chair, for the leniency on my time. CHR. VILLEGAS: Chair Chung, did you have another comment? MR. CHUNG: Just two on two levels. One with regard to the runaways. You know, I think there's a more systemic problem involved in all of this. For example, the Salvation Army Interim Home, from whichI cannot even imagine how many runaways they have from that place, because it's a non -secure facility. And they're not equipped to stop people from walking out, so it happens. But, you know, if the State Government or someone would give us the resources to provide more secure facilities that would always help, of course. But you know, on that level as well, and you're talking about sex trafficking, I will confirm, because you know, I've talked to a lot of minors who have been on the run and then are later brought in. And particularly girls, yeah? And they have been the subject of, well I guess you could call it sex trafficking, but they've been raped. And, you know, a lot of it is if not all of it is drug related, right? They're hanging out with adults. You know, it's not just they're losing their innocence basically, right? So it is happening, it's a bad situation, something we have to take seriously. But on the other end with regard to the kidnapping ring or whether it exists or not, it isn't to say, you know, even if you guys haven't found any credible evidence pointing towards a sex trafficking ring existing on our island, it isn't to say that we shouldn't be vigilant. Because I have my high school daughter, and even if my own good sense tells me I think this is probably something being, you know, just drummed up by social media, I still am very concerned, right? I tell her you got to watch out whenever you go to the beach and do this, so everybody just has to do their part. Page 17 PSC -10 June 16, 2020 LT. FINKEY: If somebody witnesses something or has specific information, come forward to us. Let us know. MR. CHUNG: Right, okay. But thanks you guys. Thank you very much. CHR. VILLEGAS: And just one last question, if there's anybody else? Looks like we're all taken care of. And with that, Mr. Clerk, are we going to head into public testimony at this time? Are we ready to transition to public testimony? MR. BROWN: Madam Chair, I think it would be proper if we took a vote to close file on the communication and then we open it up to public testimony. CHR. VILLEGAS: Thank you for that guidance. MS. POINDEXTER: I have a question, wouldn't it be more appropriate to take the testimonies and then close file? Because, what if through the testimonies that it's possible that our Prosecutor or the Police Officers wants to come up to clarify some misconceptions or something? At least it's not closed. So I would prefer not closing the communication until we hear from our testifiers. MR. BROWN: Which is an option as well. MS. VILLEGAS: I think I'd prefer to not close file on the communication until after the testimonies. Is that possible, Mr. Clerk? MR. BROWN: Okay, no problem. I guess we can move into Public Testimony. Return to Order The Chair directed the Committee to return to the order of business. of Business: STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: The following individuals registered to speak and came forward when called by the Chair: Jeanne Kapela: (representing Imua Alliance) Devin Shaw K. McMackin Tanya Aynessazian: Barbara Garcia: Lisa Hildwine: Comm. 978, in support. Comm. 978, comment. Comm. 978, comment. Comm. 978, comment. Comm. 978, comment. Page 18 PSC -10 June 16, 2020 Lani Eugenio: Comm. 978, comment. Gene Tamashiro: Comm. 978, comment. Anastasia Ayers: Comm. 978, in support. (representing Ho`61a Na Pua) Lopaka Milliora: Comm. 978, comment. President Billionaire: Comm. 978, comment. Hannah Hedrick: Comm. 978, comment. Roslyn Ioane-Ogawa: Comm. 978, in support. (representing Noho Olu Safe Home for Girls) Brittany Avecio: Comm. 978, comment. Jeffrey Coakley: Comm. 978, comment. Elizabethanne Masaoka: Comm. 978, comment. Stephanie Olson -Moore: Comm. 978, comment. (representing Ka `Umeke K5'eo PCS) Olivia Filoteo-Kekipi: Comm. 978, comment. Kekai Coakley: Comm. 978, comment. Evelyn Kahealani Lee: Comm. 978, comment. CHR. VILLEGAS: Alright. Thank you so much. At this time, I'd like to call for the vote on Communication 978, all in favor say "aye." Vote on Comm. 978: The motion to close file on Comm. 978 was carried by Filed the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, and Chair Villegas — 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. Page 19 PSC-10 June 16,2020 ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. (There were none.) BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. (There were none.) CHR. VILLEGAS: May I move to adjourn? ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 11:22 a.m., Ms. David moved to adjourn MENT: the meeting. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, and Chair Villegas—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. VILLEGAS: We have nine "ayes" and with that we're adjourned. Approved: July 6, 2020 Ms. Rebecca illeg�hair (Date) Public Safety Committee RV/dt Page 20