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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-06-17 Police Commission Regular MinutesHAWAI`I POLICE COMMISSION REGULAR SESSION MINUTES J U N E 17, 2022 AUPUNI CENTER CONFERENCE ROOM 101 PAUAHI ST., HILO, HAWAFI CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Chair Bertsch called the meeting to order at 9:03 a.m. Present: John Bertsch, Chair Thomas Brown, Vice Chair Pudding Lassiter, Commissioner Donna Springer, Commissioner Anthony Sur, Commissioner Absent: Rod Quartararo, Commissioner Rick Robinson, Commissioner Denbi Toci, Commissioner A quorum was present. Also present: Paul Ferreira, Police Chief Chad Basque, Assistant Chief Andrew Burian, Assistant Chief Kenneth Quiocho, Assistant Chief Miles Chong, Captain Malia Kekai, Deputy Corporation Counsel Charisse Correa, Secretary STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS (None.) APPROVAL OF MINUTES • Vice Chair Brown motioned to approve the regular and executive session minutes of April 29, 2022, Commissioner Springer seconded, it carried unanimously, and the minutes were approved. POLICE CHIEF'S REPORT ON DEPARTMENT ACTIVITIES • Crime Report: Assistant Chief Quiocho reported that through May 31, 2022, there were 5,592 serious crimes. Area I and Area II Criminal Investigation Units investigated 802 of those cases. Of those cases, 468 were investigated in Area I and 334 in Area II. • Calls for service: Assistant Chief Quiocho reported that for May, the department received 9,735 calls for service, bringing the total to 104,262 for the fiscal year to date. AC Quiocho noted that most of those calls for service are "miscellaneous public assistance" type complaints. Fiscal year to date, crime/traffic calls for service are at 28,507 and miscellaneous public assistance calls are at 75,755. Hawaii Police Commission Regular Session Minutes June 17, 2022 Page 2 Traffic Report: Assistant Chief Basque reported that as of June 9, 2022 traffic crashes are at 748, compared to 705 last year. Traffic fatalities are at 30 compared to 16 last year, which is an 88% increase. There were three more fatalities last week, so the totals are much higher. There were 944 DUI arrests compared to 1,085 the year prior. DUI arrests for May are 93, compared to 79 in April. For May 2022, a total of 5,073 citations were issued: 3,547 for moving/regulatory, 374 for seat belt, 25 for child restraint, and 1,127 for speeding. Chair Bertsch inquired about the recent fatalities. AC Basque stated that one on each side of the island both involved motorcycles. One was due to the negligence of the motor vehicle's operator doing a U-turn in the middle of the roadway, causing the motorcycle to sideswipe or T-bone the car. Another fatality involved a pedestrian, this occurred in Kailua-Kona, at 5:30 p.m., at the Palani Road intersection, which has heavy traffic at that time. The pedestrian was not in the crosswalk or marked area, about 200 feet north of the Queen Kaahumanu Highway and Palani Road intersection, crossing three lanes with a lot of traffic. Chair Bertsch asked if TEU is fully staffed. AC Basque stated that Area I and Area II are fully staffed with both having one sergeant and four officers. They also just completed training on traffic reconstruction and other types of fatal investigation training on the mainland. Personnel Report: Assistant Chief Burian reported that through June 15, 2022, sworn police vacancies are at 64 in the field and 55 actual positions. There are currently nine recruits in classroom training. Dispatch currently has a class of one person and 16 vacancies. They just completed the realistic job preview on June 9, 2022, and received 9 applications. Their goal is to have four dispatch classes per year. There is an open recruitment for dispatchers and they hope to have two or three classes completed by the end of the year. There's a total of 428 sworn positions filled, out of 483 and 122 civilian positions filled out of 155 At the last meeting, the commission inquired about the average age of recruits that graduate. AC Burian reported that at the start of class, the average age is 30.78 years of age and the average age of remaining recruits is 30.05 years. He reported that the 95th recruit class is scheduled to start field training on July 1, 2022. The average age at the start of this recruit class was 28.68 years and the average age of remaining recruits in this class is 28.22 years. There were 284 applicants for the 96th recruit class, after the process, they will have a class of 11, starting on July 1, 2022. Recruitment for the 97th recruit class: physical agility was on May 25, 2022, 76 passed the written exam, 65 showed up to the physical agility, 53 passed, and they are currently in the process of conducting background checks. Commissioner Lassiter asked what the physical agility test consists of. AC Burian stated they have 70 seconds to complete a course that consists of dragging a 100-plus Hawaii Police Commission Regular Session Minutes June 17, 2022 Page 3 pound bag, running upstairs through a window, quick sprint about 20 yards, over a fence, shuttle run, going back and forth over about 10 yards each way, and jumping over a wall. AC Burian noted that they will be transitioning to Fit Force and this should be the last time they use this agility course. Commissioner Springer asked what the situation is like at our schools and inquired if school resource officers are still on campuses, considering the recent school shooting in Texas. AC Burian stated that they still have school resource officers. She asked if there is any plan to assign more officers to schools. AC Burian stated he was unaware of that at this point and stated the Chief might have some insight on that matter. Chair Bertsch asked if they get repeat applicants for police recruits. AC Burian stated that they do have repeat applicants for several reasons such as the period for last drug use, last minor offenses, inability to pass the agility, psych exams, concerns found during the interview, and background checks. Chair Bertsch asked if they might consider revising or enhancing the prescreening process. AC Burian stated that they're always examining those types of things. Maui has a program where they start working with applicants before they start class to get them physically ready to perform. Finance: Assistant Chief Burian reported that as of May 31, 2022, their targeted overall expenditure was 91.62%, and the actual was 88.83%. Targeted salaries and wages expenditures were 95.83%, and actual was 93.14%. Commissioner Sur asked how the price of gas is affecting the department. AC Burian stated that it has been taking a toll. They had to reallocate money towards fuel and lubricants from another account or funds received from the county to supplement. Commendations: Chief Ferreira reported receiving 20 commendations, in recognition of outstanding services, involving 44 personnel since the last commission meeting. What isn't reflected there is all the good work that the operations section is doing. They have been working on curtailing illicit drug use in the community. They do a lot of work in the field that is not recognized and isn't reported to the commission. He's glad the media has been picking up on it and recognizes the work that they are doing in the community. Chair Bertsch asked if the commission could do more to recognize those individuals. Chief Ferreira stated that they could attend recognition ceremonies or stop by the stations and commend the staff. Chair Bertsch asked if his office is notified when it comes out, because oftentimes when he reads it in the newspaper, it's after the fact. Chief stated that a lot of times, they find out from the paper after the fact as well, especially if it involves federal agencies. Chair Bertsch asked if they could please notify Ms. Correa when they get a heads -up so the commission can show their support. Chair Bertsch stated that at one time they spoke about the Police Commission being able to issue commendations to personnel and he was told that the Chief's Office could Hawaii Police Commission Regular Session Minutes June 17, 2022 Page 4 generate the commendation. Chief Ferreira stated that they use a certificate of appreciation to recognize department personnel and people outside of the department, it can be made available through their administrative section. Chief Ferreira advised Chair Bertsch that if he wants something drafted up, and signed by the commission, it's no problem. Chair Bertsch asked for a copy of it to be sent to Ms. Correa. Chief Ferreira also mentioned that when they receive commendations from the community they send a response letter, thanking the individual for their commendation. To his knowledge, the Mayor's Office and the Police Commission are copied in these letters, the commission should have been receiving them. Chair Bertsch stated that they haven't been receiving copies of those letters. Chief Ferreira stated they will have a full recognition ceremony for the 95th recruit class on June 30, 2022, with a luncheon to follow. Invitation letters have gone out to the Commission. The 96th recruit class will start on July 1, 2022, they currently have 11 candidates. The Chief encouraged the Commission to visit the recruit class on their first day or anytime during their classroom training. He stated that the Commission is welcome to observe a class and if anyone is interested, schedule it with AC Burian or with their training staff and they can accommodate them. In regards to the school resource officers, Chief Ferreira explained that all SROs are obtained through the USDOJ Grant. They haven't applied for the grant recently because it takes an agreement with the school to put an officer in the facility. Kau and North Kohala are the only districts that do not have school resource officers. CHAIR'S REPORT ON MATTERS OF INTEREST TO THE COMMISSION (None.) NEW BUSINESS • Discussion regarding creating a sub -committee to review recruitment, retention, and resignations: Commissioner Quartararo requested to discuss this, but he is absent. This has been tabled to the next meeting. UNFINISHED BUSINESS • State of Hawaii Police Commission Conference: Chair Bertsch stated that it's their responsibility to host this year. Ms. Correa reached out to the other counties' Police Commissions to determine if they had travel budgets allocated for 2022. Ms. Correa stated that she got no response from Maui, Kauai can send three commissioners and one staff, and Honolulu stated that they may be able to send one representative. Honolulu is scheduled to host the next conference in May 2023 and didn't budget any travel for the State Police Commissioners Conference in the new fiscal year. Commissioner Lassiter stated that COVID-19 numbers are at a high again, she doesn't feel the time is right. Commissioner Springer agrees and feels we don't have enough time to plan. Vice Chair Brown also agrees and stated that based on the number of possible participants, it doesn't make sense to have it. Chair Bertsch explained that the commissions statewide have a revolving annual schedule. Hawaii County wouldn't host Hawaii Police Commission Regular Session Minutes June 17, 2022 Page 5 a conference for another few years. At this point, his recommendation is to send out regrets, due to extenuating circumstances, we are unable to host the conference. Chief Ferreira stated that Hawaii County is scheduled to host the next Hawaii State Law Enforcement Officials Association Conference (HSLEOA). They were supposed to have hosted it in 2019, but it was postponed due to COVID-19. As opposed to what the commission is doing, they will still hold the next conference. It was postponed annually, keeping them as the designated agency to host it. They scheduled it for 2023, because of the uncertainty concerning COVID. The planning stages for the HSLEOA Conference are usually started a year prior. EXECUTIVE SESSION Vice Chair Brown motioned to meet in executive session to consider charges against officers or employees of the police department where matters affecting privacy will be involved, to work on the evaluation of the Police Chief, 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). Commissioner Lassiter seconded, and it carried unanimously. Executive session convened at 9:45 a.m. Motion to reconvene open session made by Vice Chair Brown, seconded by Commissioner Lassiter, and it carried unanimously. Regular session reconvened at 11:39 a.m. ACTION ON EXECUTIVE SESSION MATTERS • Request for Representation by Corporation Counsel ➢ Correspondence 22-05: The Estate of Jay Allen Freeman vs. Daris Paul Pacheco; County of Hawaii; Dwight E. Walker III; Alipate M. Moleni; ET AL. Civil No. 3CCV-22-0000125. Motion to approve representation by Corporation Counsel made by Vice Chair Brown, seconded by Commissioner Springer, and it carried unanimously. Investigation of Complaints ➢ HPC 22-31 B: Complainant alleges that while practicing his 1 st amendment right to address his grievances, he was aggressively kicked out of the office and was threatened to be arrested (Continued). Vice Chair Brown motioned that there was insufficient evidence to prove the complainant's allegations of misconduct. Commissioner Lassiter seconded, and it carried unanimously. ➢ HPC 21-51: Complainant alleges that an officer was angry and rude towards her when responding to a domestic dispute. Commissioner Springer motioned to defer the complaint to review additional information. Commissioner Sur seconded, and it carried unanimously. Hawaii Police Commission Regular Session Minutes June 17, 2022 Page 6 ➢ HPC 22-19: Complainant alleges that an officer made false statements regarding the weather conditions on a citation and while under oath, during a court trial. Commissioner Springer motioned that there was insufficient evidence to prove the complainant's allegations of misconduct. Vice Chair Brown seconded, and it carried unanimously. ➢ HPC 22-34: While arrested for driving under the influence, the complainant alleges that he was mistreated. Commissioner Springer motioned that there was insufficient evidence to prove the complainant's allegations of misconduct. Commissioner Lassiter seconded, and it carried unanimously. ➢ HPC 22-16: Complainant states that officers failed to serve a temporary restraining order in a timely manner (Continued). Commissioner Springer motioned to refer the complaint to the Police Chief for customer service concerns as noted in the complaint. Commissioner Lassiter seconded, and it carried unanimously. ➢ Complaints in the non -acceptance category: o HPC 22-35: Vice Chair Brown motioned to accept the Chair's decision to decline the investigation due to the 90-day rule, but draft a letter to the police chief regarding the treatment of people suffering from mental illness. Commissioner Springer seconded, and it carried unanimously. o HPC 22-28: Commissioner Springer motioned to accept the Chair's decision to decline the investigation due to the 90-day rule. Commissioner Lassiter seconded, and it carried unanimously. ANNOUNCEMENTS Chair Bertsch announced that the next meeting is scheduled for July 15, 2022, at 9:00 a.m., in the West Hawaii Civic Center, Building G Conference Room, 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 11:45 a.m. SUBMITTED BY: CHARISSE CORREA, SECRETARY APPROVED BY: JOHN BERTSCH, CHAIR