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Home My WebLink About2019-04-12 Police Commission Regular MinutesHAWAII POLICE COMMISSION REGULAR SESSION MINUTES APRIL 12, 2019 AUPUNI CENTER CONFERENCE ROOM 101 PAUAHI ST., H I LO, HAWAII CALL TO ORDER Chair De Luz called the meeting to order at 9:16 a.m. ROLL CALL Present: Wayne De Luz, Chair Thomas Brown, Commissioner Jude Mattos, Commissioner Joan Obra, Commissioner Paul Paiva, Commissioner Denby Toci, Commissioner Absent: Colleen Pasco, Vice Chair Jak Hu, Commissioner A quorum was present. Also present: Kenneth Bugado, Deputy Chief Mitchell Kanehailua, Assistant Chief Samuel Thomas Assistant Chief Brian Prudencio, Detective Malia Hall, Deputy Corporation Counsel Josie Pelayo, Secretary STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS (None.) APPROVAL OF MINUTES Minutes of February 8, 2019, regular and executive sessions: Commissioner Mattos motioned to approve the regular and executive session minutes. Commissioner Toci seconded, and it carried unanimously. Chair De Luz stated that there was no meeting in March due to a lack of quorum, so there were no minutes for March. POLICE CHIEF'S REPORT ON DEPARTMENT ACTIVITIES Items from the Chief's written reported were highlighted: • Crime Report: Assistant Chief Kanehailua reported that up through March 31, 2019, there were 6,122 serious crimes. The Criminal Investigation Units investigated 681 of those cases. There were no crime trends in Area I. However, in the previous month, Puna had a spike in unauthorized entry of motor vehicles in the Shipman Industrial Park. This is being addressed by mandatory patrol in the area. Unauthorized entries of motor vehicles went up last month but dropped back down. There were 26 assaults last Hawaii Police Commission Regular Session Minutes April 12, 2019 Page 2 month, 9 reported at HCCC. Areal! had a decrease in robberies and auto thefts, but one business accounted for 9 auto thefts. Mopeds and car rentals are being targeted. This is being addressed through Neighborhood Watches and education. In Ka'u, the majority of burglaries and robberies are in the Ocean View area, although there was a decrease in incidents. This is being addressed with increased patrol and community policing. For the month of March, the department received 9,322 calls for service. • Traffic Report: AC Kanehailua reported that since January, they had 5 fatalities. Fiscal year-to-date, they had 21 traffic fatalities vs. 19 FYTD 2018. Fiscal year-to-date, they had 728 traffic crashes vs. 999 FYTD 2018. For the month of March, 5,527 citations were issued: 4,034 moving/regulatory, 373 seatbelt, 40 child restraint, and 1,080 for speeding. There were no traffic trends. • Personnel Report: AC Thomas reported that on March 27, they had an agility test for new recruits and over a hundred qualified. After testing, they are down to 72 viable candidates. They are trying to get additional civilian positions which they feel are needed, but the County Council is questioning hiring of civilian personnel. They need 5 additional dispatchers, including one more supervisor, and another dispatch console. Dispatchers worked 24-hour shifts, same as officers. They are unable to fully man every shift, and have problems maintaining dispatchers. Exit interview complaints are that there are not enough dispatchers. They think that if they could get more bodies in there, it might help. People are forced to work overtime, a lot of continuous 12 -hour shifts. Sick leave is high. The training process is long and laborious. There is 4-6 weeks of classroom training, another 3 months of answering the phone, and 3-6 months of radio use. Classroom training is done by a seasoned dispatcher. • Finance Report: AC Thomas reported that they are over a million dollars over budget. Their insurance bill is coming up. They want 150 more mobile data units for the vehicles. They are trying to work on computer server upgrades. Their budget hearing before the County Council will be on April 17 at 1:30 in County Council chambers. Regarding the Council's suggestion of having fleet vehicles, this has come up over the years. They recently bought vehicles for $61,000. The Council said they would use the County's mechanic shop for maintenance. There is a big discrepancy in the Council's cost estimates. They need 5 officers for each new position which would cover 24 hours, vacations, sick leave, and days off. The body camera program is in their supplemental budget. For this, they will need two computer persons and a sergeant. Cameras are cheap, and companies make their money on storage. Rollout would be at the end of the fiscal year. • Commendations of Sworn and Civilian Employees: Deputy Chief Bugado reported receiving 4 commendations involving 6 personnel since the last meeting. • Other Department Activities: Deputy Chief Bugado reported that Chief Ferreira was attending FBI leadership training. When they go before the County Council for their Hawaii Police Commission Regular Session Minutes April 12, 2019 Page 3 budget hearing, they will strongly support additional civilian personnel which is equally as important as the sworn positions they requested. The cellblock monitoring system is aging and needs to be replaced, but it has not been addressed because of the County's budget. Next week is National Telecommunicator's Week, and the Mayor signed a proclamation to honor dispatchers. They hope this will attract people to the position. They will be doing CALEA mock assessments next week. Every district and every section will be reviewed. Site assessments will be done in August. UNFINISHED BUSINESS • Program of Work for the Police Commission: Chair De Luz will work on this. • Program of Work for the Police Chief: Chair De Luz stated that he will ask two commissioners to track items of concern which will help when they do the Chief's annual evaluation. He will review the Chief's employee survey before deciding how to handle it. NEW BUSINESS • Correspondence 19-01 from the Salary Commission requesting input on the salary for the Police Chief and Deputy Chief. Chair De Luz stated that this is a continuance from last year. Deputy Chief Bugado stated that the Salary Commission sets the pay for the Chief and Deputy Chief and other department heads. Everyone else goes in line with the union. Assistant Chief Thomas stated that SHOPO negotiates for lieutenants and down. Salaries for the majors and assistant chiefs are based on the SHOPO agreement. Chair De Luz stated that SHOPO members, majors, and assistant chiefs get regular raises, but the Chief and Deputy could not get a raise for years. Major Thomas stated that as a major, he was getting paid more than the Chief and Deputy Chief. Commissioner Paiva stated that they previously recommended to the Salary Commission that the salary of the Chief and Deputy Chief be set at 10% and 5%, higher than the highest paid subordinates and be in line with union increases. Commissioner Mattos motioned to continue to support the Police Commission's letter to the Salary Commission dated November 7, 2018, in which they recommended a 10% and 5% increase for the Chief and Deputy Chief over the highest paid subordinate. Commissioner Paiva seconded, and it carried unanimously. Chair De Luz will attend the Salary Commission's meeting on May 16. • Review of the Police Commission's procedures for investigating complaints. Chair De Luz explained the procedures for the new commissioners. CHAIR'S REPORT ON OTHER COMMISSION ACTIVITIES AND INTERESTS Chair De Luz stated that the Honolulu Police Commission is hosting the State of Hawaii Police Commissioners' Conference on April 25 and 26. Hawaii Police Commission Regular Session Minutes April 12, 2019 Page 4 EXECUTIVE SESSION Commissioner Brown motioned to meet in executive session to consider charges against officers or employees of the Hawaii Police Department where matters affecting privacy will be involved, to consider sensitive matters relating to public safety, and may consult with Corporation Counsel on questions and issues pertaining to the commission's powers, duties, privileges, immunities, and liabilities pursuant to HRS 92-5 (a) (2) (4) (6) and the Hawaii County Charter Section 13-20 (b).10:32. Commissioner Mattos seconded, and it carried unanimously. Executive session convened at 10:40 a.m. Regular session reconvened at 11:45 a.m. ACTION ON EXECUTIVE SESSION MATTERS • Complaint HPC 19-02: Complainant alleged that the police jumped him when they responded to a call of him breaking into the home he leases with another person. He also alleged that the police defamed him. Commissioner Paiva motioned to refer the complaint to the Chief for further investigation because they did not get testimony from the officer. Commissioner Mattos seconded, and it carried unanimously. • Complaint HPC 19-03: Complainant stated that the police responded to a call that he assaulted someone and that he had a gun. He alleged that the other party assaulted him, that he was not able to make a police report, and that the police harassed him. Commissioner Paiva motioned to refer the complaint to the Chief for further investigation because they did not get testimony from the officer. Commissioner Mattos seconded, and it carried unanimously. ANNOUNCEMENTS Chair De Luz announced that the next monthly meeting is scheduled for May 17, 2019, 9:00 a.m., West Hawaii Civic Center, Building G Conference Room, 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 11:51 a.m. SUBMITTED BY: JOSIE PELAYO, SECRETARY APPROVED BY: WAYNE K. DE LUZ, CHAIR