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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-09-16 Police Commission Regular Minutes HAWAI`I POLICE COMMISSION REGULAR SESSION MINUTES SEPTEMBER 16, 2022 WEST HAWAI`I CIVIC CENTER, BUILDING A COUNCIL CHAMBERS 74-5044 ANE KEOHOKALOLE HWY., KAILUA-KONA, HI CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Chair Bertsch called the meeting to order at 9.05 a.m. Present: John Bertsch, Chair Thomas Brown, Vice Chair Pudding Lassiter, Commissioner Rod Quartararo, Commissioner Rick Robinson, Commissioner Donna Springer, Commissioner Anthony Sur, Commissioner Denby Toci, Commissioner A quorum was present. Also present: Kenneth Bugado Jr., Acting Police Chief Chad Basque, Assistant Chief Kenneth Quiocho, Assistant Chief Miles Chong, Captain Dakota Frenz, Deputy Corporation Counsel Charisse Correa, Secretary STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS (None.) APPROVAL OF MINUTES • Commissioner Robinson motioned to approve the regular and executive session minutes of August 26, 2022, Commissioner Lassiter seconded, no discussion, it carried unanimously, and the minutes were approved. POLICE CHIEF'S REPORT ON DEPARTMENT ACTIVITIES • Crime Report: Assistant Chief Quiocho reported that through August 31, 2022, there were 998 serious crimes. Of those 998 crimes, the Criminal Investigation Units in Area I and Area 11 investigated 96 of them, 61 in Area I and 35 in Area 11. • Calls for Service: Assistant Chief Quiocho reported that in August 2022, the department received 10,036 calls for service, bringing the total calls for service for the fiscal year to 19,980. • Traffic Report: Assistant Chief Basque reported that as of September 9, 2022, traffic crashes are at 79, compared to 73 last year. Traffic fatalities are at one compared to two last year. DUI arrests are at 66, compared to 56 last year, and DUI arrests for August are at 66, compared to 80 the previous month. For the month of August 2022, Hawaii Police Commission Regular Session Minutes September 16, 2022 Page 2 a total of 4,994 citations were issued: 3,450 for moving/regulatory, 306 for seat belt, 19 for child restraint, and 1,219 for speeding. Commissioner Quartarao asked how often the department does traffic surveys and wanted to know how the department is involved with the public safety commission. AC Basque stated that traffic surveys are done once a year. Traffic safety meetings are held in South Kohala monthly and explained that this isn't police department driven, it's community-based. Commissioner Quartararo stated that input from the police department would be important for that committee. He expressed that there are a lot of dangerous intersections on the Kona side. AC Basque stated he believes that in the past the traffic safety committee was coordinated by a neighborhood watch in the Nani- Kailua area. They would invite traffic engineers and the police department to provide statistics. Commissioner Robinson asked if these DUI scats are also drug-related orjust alcohol. AC Basque stated any intoxicant that would impair your driving. Commissioner Robinson asked how they test for drugs. AC Basque stated either by urine or blood test. Chair Bertsch stated there were traffic safety committees in both Hilo and Kona. He doesn't remember who initiated it, but the police department wasn't the lead for these meetings. These meetings consisted of DPW, and other local organizations, such as PAC in regard to pedestrian and cycling safety. He stated he's not putting it on the police department's shoulders, but if it is something they would like to initiate, the commission could send a letter to the Mayor and ask if they could explore setting this up. He asked AC Basque for more insight on this. AC Basque stated that it was a neighborhood watch-driven program where they would facilitate the meeting, get a venue, reach out to various agencies, and would meet monthly. Commissioner Quartararo asked if he was aware of any ongoing meetings. AC Basque stated there's the South Kohala community meeting, which is held monthly. Commissioner Quartararo wanted to know who was supposed to notice these hazardous traffic issues and do something about it. AC Basque stated they need to reach out to those who designed the roads, such as state highways. The police department could be the conduit to do that, but they aren't the ones who will be making any changes to the roadways. Chair Bertsch stated that he believes the police department has statistics that might be able to identify the more dangerous intersections. He asked if the department could provide this information to the commission, the commission could craft a letter, and use that as the impetus to move forward and Commissioner Quartararo could sit on this traffic safety committee. Chair Bertsch asked if the statistics could be sent to their secretary and the commission could craft the letter. Hawaii Police Commission Regular Session Minutes September 16, 2022 Page 3 Acting Police Chief Bugado stated in response to Commissioner Quartararo's concerns, the department has a traffic services coordinator. He advised him to forward his concerns to the Chief's office and they will see how they can rectify those problems. • Personnel Report: Acting Police Chief Bugado reported as of September 15, 2022, sworn vacancies are at 69 in the field. HPD has six officers in the 95t" recruit class and eight in the 96t" recruit class, leaving 55 actual positions unfilled. Police Communication Officers have a total of 44 actual positions. Police communication II positions have 28 filled and 11 vacant. The department has six applicants who will start their training today as police communication officers. There are five total supervisory positions in dispatch and all are filled. As of today, the department has filled 429 out of 484 sworn positions (88.6%). They also filled 128 out of 155 civilian positions (82.6%). • Recruitment activities: The 94t" recruit class is currently in solo assignment, there are 17 officers, who will complete this phase on November 30, 2022. This recruit class started with 32, on June 1, 2021. The 95t" recruit class has six in field training until October 31, 2022, this class started with 28 in December 2021, these officers are currently in their third month of training, are progressing well, and should be getting their district assignments soon. The 96t" recruit class has eight recruits currently in academic training until the end of December 2022, this class started with 11, and this week they'll be completing their mid-term exams and are also progressing well. HPD had a total of 250 applicants for the 97t" recruit class, they currently have 32 applicants who will be going through the background investigation phase. Recruitment is open for police communication officer I positions, it is now continuous recruitment, due to the small pool of applicants. Recruitment for police officer I positions were open from August 21, 2022, to August 30, 2022. The written exam is scheduled for September 27, 2022, and the physical agility is tentatively scheduled for October 26, 2022. Commissioner Sur stated that the Honolulu Fire Department advertises two to three- month courses to assist those interested in joining the fire department. He doesn't know of any police departments in the State of Hawaii that offer this. He noticed a resignation after three and a half hours. He asked if the department would consider similar training to prepare recruits. Acting Chief Bugado stated that this was discussed in the past and is something the department should move forward with. A lot of recruits that resigned did so because they weren't physically prepared, knowing full well what a police officer should be able to do. Commissioner Toci asked if the department ever thought about bringing back the victim's service assistant position. Acting Chief Bugado stated that would be a benefit to the department, this is something they should look at as well. Commissioner Toci stated the position was beneficial to the department and the public, this position helped bridge the gaps. This position could also bring more resources to the public, by directing people to services in the community. She encourages the department to bring this position back. Hawaii Police Commission Regular Session Minutes September 16, 2022 Page 4 Commissioner Robinson asked about the 250 applicants for a recruit class, which is now narrowed down to 32. Acting Chief Bugado explained that the recruitment ran from February to March, a total of 250 applied for the position, 141 showed up to take the written test, 76 passed the written test, 76 were summoned for the agility, and there were 11 no shows, 65 showed up for the agility, out of the 65, 53 passed the agility, 12 failed. By the time they got to the PHQ (personal history questionnaire), they were down to 32. • Finance: Acting Chief Bugado reported that as of August 31, 2022, their targeted expenditure was 20.83% and the actual was 20.21%. For overall expenditures, their target was 20.67% and the actual was 19.86%. Commissioner Toci asked how the department is doing in regard to officers doing overtime. Acting Chief Bugado stated considering their vacancies, the line of work, and the types of cases that they've been getting, so far for this fiscal year, the department is right where it should be. • Commendations: Acting Chief Bugado reported receiving eight commendations, involving 60 personnel since the last Police Commission meeting in recognition of outstanding services. The large number is due to the Hawaii Special Olympics expressing appreciation to all the officers who participated in the Cop on Top Fundraiser. This fundraiser was held at Walmart stores in East and West Hawaii from August 25t" through August 27t" and raised $23,000 in East Hawaii and $21,000 in West Hawaii. The department recently had a total of eight sergeant/detective promotions effective September 1, 2022. Two officers were promoted to patrol sergeants in Puna, and six officers were promoted to detectives in Area II Criminal Investigations Section. Commissioner Robinson asked about the commendation where Suzanne Hammond commended Officers Won and McFadden for their actions during the search and rescue of her husband from the Mauna Loa Summit. Acting Chief Bugado stated that she was grateful for the way they contacted her and asked for information which helped in relaying the information to those who rescued her husband. Ms. Hammond stated that the officers were very professional. Acting Chief Bugado gave an update on the license to carry. Since they revised the permitting process for the license to carry and started receiving applications on the 24tn of August, they have received a total of 11 applications, all those applications are still being processed. Currently, there are no approved or issued licenses. Some common issues their firearms division staff have encountered are some applicants were missing the NRA certification for the instructors. Another issue was missing initials on the mental health form. There's a signature block on the bottom, there's a lot to read in between, and a lot of applicants missed that. Some applicants have provided Hawaii Police Commission Regular Session Minutes September 16, 2022 Page 5 proficiency tests that were not done by certified NRA instructors. Acting Chief Bugado explained that it takes at least 30 days to process an application and a $10 fee. Their staff is still considering how they will collect this fee, it will most likely be cash or check upon approval. Commissioner Toci wanted to know if the department does mental health background checks. Acting Chief Bugado stated yes, it's on the form that he mentioned. Commissioner Springer asked if they have any NRA-certified instructors on the island. Acting Chief Bugado stated there are a limited number of instructors on the island. He doesn't have a list of any names. Commissioner Sur stated that he knows of two NRA instructors. As he was speaking to one of them, he said according to the previous chief, the shooting test was just a guideline, but the department's site states those are the minimum requirements. Acting Chief Bugado stated the minimum requirements are posted on their website. If there is an NRA instructor that wants to make it more stringent, they are able to. Commissioner Sur stated that it's already too stringent. Chief Bugado stated this is regarding firearms, a deadly weapon, they should be able to do some of those maneuvers. Commissioner Robinson stated that he's worried about the shortage of NRA instructors on this island. He asked the acting chief if there was any way he could research this and find out if there are NRA instructors. Acting Chief Bugado stated that there are instructors, but it's a very small number. If he's asking for him to find out the actual number, he will check with his staff. Chair Bertsch stated that he was under the impression that each county was adopting uniform criteria for assigning CCW, based on the HRS. The permit to carry a concealed weapon is issued by the county but provided within the state. If your application is approved in Hawaii County, in theory, that permit would still be the same statewide. He asked if the police chiefs within the state have gotten together to put uniform criteria together so that everyone meets that minimum requirement. Acting Chief Bugado explained that it is a state program that is being taken on by the county police chiefs. They do meet and keep each other abreast, but there are four separate counties and unfortunately, there will be some differences. He would have preferred if the state administered the program, but that's not the case. He further clarified that a permit issued here in Hawaii County is not valid in any other county. Commissioner Quartararo stated that Coffee with a Cop is a great outreach program, the problem is, no one knows when or where it's happening. The best means on his side of the island is West Hawaii Today, but he hasn't seen it advertised there. He said it would be great to know when and where it's happening. Acting Chief Bugado stated that the department pushes it out on Nixle and he has seen it in the newspapers as well. Commissioner Quartararo stated that he hasn't seen it in upcoming events. Acting Hawaii Police Commission Regular Session Minutes September 16, 2022 Page 6 Chief Bugado stated that the department does put out the date and location. Chair Bertsch explained what Nixle is and recommended that he sign up for it. UNFINISHED BUSINESS • Police chief recruitment: Chair Bertsch stated they have received applications through the human resources department. The commission has asked to be kept in the dark, he doesn't know how many applicants they have, and he doesn't know how many applicants have met the minimum qualifications. The commission's next step is to create an unbiased list of questions they can distribute to the applicants. The reason why the commission hasn't asked for a list of applicants including numbers and names is simply that they don't want it to appear that the questionnaire is geared toward any specific individual. Once they perfect this questionnaire (in executive session) the goal for the commission is to compile it into one clean document, along with a thank you letter to all applicants. This would be sent to human resources and distributed to all applicants. Human resources will collate that information, and provide the commission with a list of the applicants, along with their responses. Chair Bertsch was asked how long he expects the process to take. He stated when they embarked on this, they were looking forward to having an expedited review and hiring process. The commission's ambition to hire a police chief has been tempered by its commitment to making a good choice. He thinks it's prudent for them to digest the implications of what they're doing and to make sure they make good selections. The commission's goal is to accomplish this as soon as they can, they are ambitiously working towards it. After the questionnaire is distributed, and responses are sent back to the commission, this would take about a month. As it stands today, their goal is to review applications and pick their top candidates out of this review process. Based on those selections, they will invite those candidates to a public forum. Initially, they spoke about holding a public forum in both Hilo and Kona. Holding meetings in Council Chambers provides them with the technology and resources to allow community engagement remotely. Based on that, there may be the opportunity for the commission to have one open session meeting with the applicants and allow testimony and commentary from an island-wide perspective. If the commission feels the results from this testimony are fruitful, then one meeting would be enough, it all depends on the number of testimonies. He wants to be completely fair and would like to allow everyone the opportunity to speak. Chair Bertsch expressed that all the commissioners are volunteers and have busy lives. When they knew this was coming, they knew they would embark on a challenging mission, but will do their best to stay ahead of it. In a perfect world, he would hope to seat someone on January 1st. Commissioner Toci added that the commission needs to focus on moving this forward. The hiring process is always a difficult task, but she's committed to making sure that Hawaii Police Commission Regular Session Minutes September 16, 2022 Page 7 the department has a chief that is worthy and that the public will agree with their decision-making. She asks the other commissioners to commit to this task and after this meeting, they could formulate another meeting date, commit to that date, and start moving things along. Recess was called at 10.10 a.m. The meeting reconvened at 10.20 a.m. EXECUTIVE SESSION (CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC) Commissioner Robinson 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). Seconded by Vice Chair Brown, no discussion, all in favor, executive session convened at 10.25 a.m. Motion to reconvene open session made by Commissioner Lassiter, seconded by Commissioner Toci, and it carried unanimously. Regular session reconvened at 2.06 p.m. Chair Bertsch announced that Commissioners Brown and Robinson left the meeting while in executive session. He noted that they were present for important discussions. ACTION ON EXECUTIVE SESSION MATTERS • Investigation of Complaints ➢ HPC 22-32: Complainant alleges that the officer was unprofessional and rude during a traffic stop. Commissioner Toci motioned insufficient evidence to prove the complainant's allegations of misconduct, seconded by Commissioner Sur. Commissioner Quartararo stated it should be referred to the chief for customer service for procedural and training concerns. Chair Bertsch explained there are three solutions for this case, it's either insufficient evidence, meaning there was no evidence to prove the allegations or sufficient evidence which would be referred to the chief for further investigation. The third option is to refer the complaint to the chief for customer service, to provide refresher training to officers. A vote was called for all those in favor of insufficient evidence, ayes made by Commissioners Sur, Lassiter, and Springer, opposed by Commissioners Quartararo and Toci, the motion carried, there is insufficient evidence to prove the complainant's allegations of misconduct. Chair Bertsch stated if a commissioner would like to make a motion to attach a recommendation for training to this case, the commission could do so. While the officer did his job thoroughly, training could be looked at. Commissioner Toci motioned to request training, seconded by Commissioner Lassiter, with no discussion. Ayes made by Commissioners Quartararo, Lassiter, and Toci, opposed by Commissioners Sur and Springer, motion carried. Hawaii Police Commission Regular Session Minutes September 16, 2022 Page 8 ➢ HPC 22-40: Complainant alleges that she was arrested when she was a victim of an assault by someone who tried to steal her dog. She claims that officers never charged this person and aided them in stealing this dog. Commissioner Toci motioned there was insufficient evidence to prove the complainant's allegations of misconduct, seconded by Commissioner Sur. Commissioners Springer and Quartararo voiced their concerns and requested this be referred to the chief for further investigation. A vote was called for all those in favor of insufficient evidence, aye called out by commissioner Lassiter, opposed by Commissioners Toci, Sur, Quartararo, and Springer, and the motion is lost. Commissioner Springer motioned there is sufficient evidence to refer to the chief for further investigation, seconded by Commissioner Quartararo, no discussion, motion carried. ➢ Chair Bertsch asked for a motion to approve Corporation Counsel's ability to collate and perfect the interrogatory language format and distribution. Motioned by Commissioner Quartararo, and seconded by Commissioner Lassiter, no discussion, all in favor, motion carried. ANNOUNCEMENTS The next meeting is scheduled for October 21, 2022, at 9.00 a.m., at the Hawaii County Building, Council Chambers, Suite 1401, 25 Aupuni St., Hilo, Hawaii. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 2.26 p.m. SUBMITTED BY: CHARISSE CORREA, SECRETARY APPROVED BY: JOHN BERTSCH, CHAIR