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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-08-23 Police Commission Regular MinutesHAWAII POLICE COMMISSION REGULAR SESSION MINUTES OF AUGUST 23, 2019 AUPUNI CENTER CONFERENCE ROOM 101 PAUAHI ST., HILO, HAWAII CALL TO ORDER Chair De Luz called the meeting to order at 9:10 a.m. ROLL CALL Present: Wayne De Luz, Chair John Bertsch, Vice Chair Thomas Brown, Commissioner Joan Obra, Commissioner Paul Paiva, Commissioner Absent: Denby Toci, Commissioner A quorum was present. Also Present: Paul Ferreira, Police Chief Kenneth Bugado, Deputy Police Chief Mitchell Kanehailua, Assistant Chief James O'Connor, Assistant Chief Samuel Thomas, Assistant Chief Burt Shimabukuro, Captain Malia Hall, Deputy Corporation Counsel Josie Pelayo, Secretary STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS (None.) APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF JUNE 21, 2019 Commissioner Obra motioned to approve the regular and executive session minutes with a correction that Vice Chair Colleen Pasco was present. Vice Chair Bertsch seconded, and it carried unanimously. POLICE CHIEF'S REPORT ON DEPARTMENT ACTIVITIES • Crime Report: Assistant Chief O'Connor reported that up through July 31, they had 551 serious crimes. Of those, the Criminal Investigation Units investigated 46 cases. For the month of July, the department received 10,220 calls for service. Assistant Chief O'Connor further reported that South Kohala, Waimea, saw an increase in thefts. They met with businesses in the area to advise them on how to deal with the situation. There were quite a few brush fires in South Kohala. Squatters in Puna have been occupying foreclosed homes. Typically, there is one person in charge of the residence who rent out space, although they have no legal right to the home. They have arrested numerous people with warrants. They are working with banks so they can expedite the no -trespass process and arrest people. A lot of the houses are no longer in the shape previous to the foreclosure and have a Hawaii Police Commission Regular Session Minutes August 23, 2019 Page 2 lot of abandoned vehicles on the property. Chair De Luz stated that he has dealt with these people for years. Once they move in, it becomes an instant crime wave. AC O'Connor stated that if they move out, they move on to another house. Traffic Report: Assistant Chief Kanehailua reported that fiscal year to date July, there were 93 traffic crashes, 15 traffic fatalities, and 84 DUI arrests. For the month of July, 3,830 citations were issued: 2,718 moving/regulatory, 210 seat belt, 30 child restraint, and 872 speeding. No traffic trends were identified. Personnel Report: Assistant Chief Thomas reported having 60 sworn vacancies without the recruits. The 89th recruit class of 14 officers is in field training which will end September 30. They hope to deploy most of them on October 2. They are actively working on testing for the 91St recruit class. Dispatch has 9 vacancies, 6 of which are new positions. They are currently working on background checks on 19 applicants. Dispatch is a very difficult position to fill and retain. They have 45 assigned dispatch positions. Commissioners were encouraged to visit the dispatch center. Finance Report: AC Thomas reported that their Salaries & Wages target expenditure is at 12.5%. The County Council removed overtime from their budget. Commendations of Sworn and Civilian Employees: Chief reported receiving 13 commendations involving 50 personnel since the last meeting. Other Department Activities: Chief Ferreira reported that they went through CALEA assessment August 5-9. Deputy Chief Bugado reported that they first did a web - based assessment. The site based assessment was next, and they focused on disaster preparedness, community involvement, and patrol officer investigative skills. The assessors did ride -a -longs. They talked to the Mayor and Civil Defense Director and were very impressed with their disaster preparedness. They took a trip to the volcano event and up to Mauna Kea. On the second day, they took call-in phone calls. The received 15 calls that took most of the scheduled 2 hours. Later that evening, they had in-person public comments where they heard 8-9 people. Chief Ferreira reported that one of the assessors sent him an email commending his staff on their work. The final conference will be in Kentucky where they will go before the CALEA board. His understanding is that they did not have any discrepancies. Accreditation is for 4 years. CALEA has upgraded their standards since their first accreditation. Chief Ferreira further reported that this year's new budget was passed. In that budget, they got approval for 32 sworn positions, 10 to Puna, 10 to Ka'u, and supervisory personnel across the island. They were also given 11 new non -sworn Hawaii Police Commission Regular Session Minutes August 23, 2019 Page 3 positions. Regarding overtime, County Finance now has to approve overtime. Vice Chair Bertsch stated that he's afraid they have taken authority away from the Chief. AC Thomas reported that they are having less police recruit applicants, and it's the same state-wide. They are all vying for the same positions. Vice Chair Bertsch stated that regarding the recent island -wide active shooter situation, there was a lot of feedback and information going out from the public. Even a former police officer talked about it on the news. He asked what could be done about that. Chief Ferreira stated that with situations like that, they do an after incident review. Things are happening fast, social media is getting information out, and people are doing it instantaneously. Vice Chair Bertsch stated that some departments do social media monitoring. Chief stated that they do that for investigative purposes. They don't have the resource for someone to do 24-hour monitoring. He wished they did. Vice Chair Bertsch stated that the police department could initiate a task force to look into this. Social media is happening so fast versus no information getting out from the police department. If they are not progressive, they could get into trouble. Chief Ferreira stated that they use Nixle to push out information as fast as they can. Vice Chair Bertsch asked what their mission is now on the Daniel K. Highway, how long they will be there, and what their exit strategy is. He is concerned about the perception of the police department by the community. Chief stated that right now, they are part of a joint operation. They are at a status quo. They are now running 8 -hour shifts. Initially, they were running 12 -hour shifts. They do have a contingency to react immediately if they need to. The community has asked for more presence on the road. The exit strategy has to be made by the State. Right now, it's in the negotiation phase. Vice Chair Bertsch asked if they were enforcing the law or not enforcing the law. If they are getting direction from the Attorney General, they should tell the public that. They are not being put in a positive position. Chief Ferreira stated that it's a joint effort, not solely Hawaii County Police. Commissioner Paiva stated that he appreciates the officers being out there. He goes up there every day. He is very happy that they are now doing enforcement. Hawaii Police Commission Regular Session Minutes August 23, 2019 Page 4 Chief Ferreira reported that the Kona Crime Prevention awards will be held on September 18 at 11:30-1:30. They will recognize officers in Kona and select an officer of the year. FINISHED BUSINESS • Program of Work for the Police Commission (No discussion.) • Program of Work for the Police Chief (No discussion.) CHAIR'S REPORT ON MATTERS OF INTEREST TO THE COMMISSION • Police Commission's Annual Report for 2018. Chair De Luz reported that this report is prepared every year, and will be given to the Mayor, Managing Director, and County Council. Recess was called at 10:05 a.m. The meeting reconvened at 10:19 a.m. EXECUTIVE SESSION Vice Chair Bertsch 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, to discuss the Police Chief's annual evaluation, 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). Commissioner Paiva seconded, and it carried unanimously. Executive session convened at 10:20 a.m. Regular session reconvened at 11:53 a.m. CONSIDERATION AND INVESTIGATION OF COMPLAINTS • Complaint HPC 19-15: Complainant reported gunshots in the area of the farm where he was working. He complained about the manner in which the officer responded to him and alleged that no police report was made. Vice Chair Bertsch motioned that there was insufficient evidence of misconduct. Commissioner Paiva seconded, and it carried unanimously. Complaint HPC 19-17: Complainant alleged that when an officer responded to her call of harassment by a neighbor, she felt intimidated. She also alleged that the officer lied to her and wanted to argue and provoke her. Vice Chair Bertsch motioned to refer the complaint to the Police Chief for customer service concerns. Commissioner Paiva seconded, and it carried unanimously. Review of complaints that fall under the non -consideration rule of not meeting the filing deadline and being speculative and hypothetical. Commissioner Paiva Hawaii Police Commission Regular Session Minutes August 23, 2019 Page 5 motioned to accept the decision of the Chair and Vice Chair to decline investigation. Commissioner Brown seconded, and it carried unanimously. ANNOUNCEMENTS Chair De Luz stated that the HSLEOA conference is scheduled for the date of the next meeting, so they will schedule the next meeting on September 27, 2019, at 9:00 a.m. in the West Hawaii Civic Center, 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii or another location. Ms. Pelayo will check for an available room. ADJOURNMENT Vice Chair Bertsch motioned to adjourn. Commissioner Paiva seconded, and it carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 11:58 a.m. SUBMITTED BY: JOSIE PELAYO, SECRETARY APPROVED BY: WAYNE K. DE LUZ, CHAIR