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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-12-16 Police Commission MinutesHAWAII COUNTY POLICE COMMISSION REGULAR SESSION MINUTES DECEMBER 16, 2005 KING KAMEHAMEHA KONA BEACH HOTEL CALL TO ORDER Chair John Bertsch called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. ROLL CALL Present: John M. Bertsch, Chair Pudding Lassiter, Vice Chair James A. Frazier, Member Louis Kaoiwi, Member Karolyn P. Lundkvist, Member Betsy Mitchell, Member Melvin S. Morimoto, Member Kaloa R. N. Robinson, Member Absent: Anita Politano Steckel, Member Also Present: Lawrence K. Mahuna, Police Chief Harry S. Kubojiri, Deputy Chief James Day, Assistant Chief Ronald Nakamichi, Assistant Chief Elroy Osorio, Assistant Chief Kay Nishibayashi, Accountant Josie Pelayo, Secretary Lincoln S. Ashida, Corporation Counsel APPROVAL OF AGENDA Commissioner Frazier moved and Commissioner Kaoiwi seconded to approve the agenda as presented. The motion carried unanimously. STATEMENTS ON AGENDA ITEMS — None. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Commissioner Lundkvist moved and Vice Chair Lassiter seconded to approve the minutes of November 18, 2005, regular and executive sessions. The motion carried unanimously. PERSONNEL ORDERS Commissioner Kaoiwi moved and Commissioner Lundkvist seconded to accept Personnel Orders Nos. 2005 -124 to 2005 -133 for filing. The motion carried unanimously. COMMUNICATIONS Commissioner Frazier moved and Vice Chair Lassiter seconded to accept the communications as listed. Discussion: Chair Bertsch stated that in the future when the commission receives any anonymous or unsigned correspondence, the commission will accept the correspondence, but they would not be in a position to act on it or validate it. If it is signed, the writer could request that it be kept confidential. The motion carried unanimously. COMMITTEE REPORTS • Budget and Finance (Frazier): No report. Office Management and Staffing (Robinson /Mitchell): Chair Bertsch reported that Ms. Pelayo contacted that Chief's office regarding her continued ailments. The Safety Hawaii County Police Commission Regular Session Minutes December 16, 2005 Page 2 Department was asked to look into the possibility of something in the office causing her to become ill. • Rules and Policies (Bertsch /Lundkvist): Chair Bertsch stated that they received a copy of the new rules and regulations which incorporates the commission's new meeting time and new classification for complaint findings. • Contractual Services (Frazier): No report. • Public Relations (Bertsch /Lassiter): Vice Chair Lassiter stated that they gave certificate of awards to Myra Iwamoto & Reed Mahuna for being nominated as employee of the year. • Regarding Fleet Implementation: Vice Chair Lassiter reported that the committee has come to an understanding that the Police Department will try 50 fleet vehicles, although they found it to be more expensive. It will be presented to the County Council. CHIEF'S REPORT Including: • Crime: Assistant Chief Day reported that the Juvenile Aid Section is short in personnel due to the retirement of the sergeant. They are gearing up on both sides of the island for the cockfighting season. In home burglaries, items taken are usually cash, jewelry, and other items that can be easily taken to pawn shops. Pawnshops are supposed to have logs of everything that comes in. Detectives do checks, but until they can get someone to input all the information into the computer, they still have to flip through receipts. Kids in Puna have been converting stolen items to cash or drugs by selling items in park pavilions. Credit cards are also worth a lot of money. Coffee thefts are their only agricultural crimes. They don't have very many auto thefts. Traffic: Assistant Chief Nakamichi summarized the written report. There were three traffic fatalities in November. DUI checkpoints are being ramped up. Personnel: Assistant Chief Osorio stated that they are still working on the cadet program, but they don't expect it to happen soon. Recruitment is ongoing and applicants are coming from around the whole island. There is no consistent number for a recruit class. The most current one has 17, and the two previous ones had 9. They project five retirements this month. Commissioner Frazier likes the ads they have been running. An officer told him the pretesting is very helpful. Finance: Accountant Kay Nishibayashi stated that they review their budget after the calendar year ends. If they need additional funds, they could go to the County Council. They will be short on fuel costs but don't know how much. As a general rule, they are conservative in the second half of the year. • Commendations: Chief Mahuna reported receiving six commendations in the past month. Hawaii County Police Commission Regular Session Minutes December 16, 2005 Page 3 • Other Departmental Activities: Chief Mahuna reported that their 2006 -07 budget has been geared towards civilian staffing. Recruitment has been very successful, and much is attributed to Civil Service, the Assistant Chiefs, and their Human Resources Department who do a lot of pau hana sessions. The SROs have been talking to students about police as a career. They will be linking their records management system to pawn shops on the West Coast and will soon have the capability of looking into records to see merchandise. Most of our drugs come from the West Coast. Deputy Chief Kubojiri and Lieutenant O'Connor were sent to taser training. With the proliferation of drugs, there has been an increase in the level of violence. For the safety of officers, tasers could be used to take people down. They are doing preliminary work on it, and the SRT would use it first. Chair Bertsch stated that he would like them to pursue the taser. They notified retailers about pseudoefedrine being used to make "Ice." Their biggest concern is for children who live in homes with crystal meth. Smoke is absorbed through the skin. Commissioner Frazier stated that Betsy Tranquilli of West Hawaii Today did an interesting article about the shooting range. Chief Mahuna stated that he hoped the county and everyone concerned sees the need for practice. They need training that emulates work conditions. Assistant Chief Osorio stated that he doesn't think the state has the money for a shooting range, so someone else has to do it. • Commander's Meeting Minutes of November 17, 2005 — No discussion. Recess was called at 10:30 a.m. The meeting reconvened at 10:40 a.m. INVESTIGATION AND DELIBERATION OF COMPLAINTS STATEMENTS ON COMPLAINTS (open to the public) — None. EXECUTIVE SESSION (closed to the public) Vice Chair Lassiter moved and Commissioner Lundkvist seconded to meet in executive session to consider discipline and charges against officers or employees of the Hawaii County Police Department where consideration of matters affecting privacy would be involved and a closed session is requested and to consult with Corporation Counsel on questions and issues pertaining to the commission's powers, duties, privileges, immunities, and liabilities pursuant to HRS 92 -5 (2) and Hawaii County Charter Section 13 -20 (b). The motion carried unanimously. Executive session convened at 10:41 a.m. Regular session reconvened at 10:50 a.m. Hawaii County Police Commission Regular Session Minutes December 16, 2005 Page 4 UNFINISHED BUSINESS Revisions to Chief of Police Evaluation Form: Chair Bertsch stated that he doesn't like the current form and favors a form similar to the Fire Chief Evaluation form. Commissioners Kaoiwi and Robinson were not able to get together and develop a new form. So, he would like to move forward and put it together before the January meeting. Commissioner Kaoiwi stated that he would like to have a separate meeting to work on the Chief's evaluation. He would like to use a sliding scale with the criteria he presented or do away with the scale and only do a narrative. Chair Bertsch stated that he is in favor or doing away with the scale and only doing a narrative. The scale gets misinterpreted. Commissioner Morimoto stated that he was also in favor of a narrative. If they give someone an excellent, there would be no room for improvement. Commissioner Robinson suggested taking the former model and incorporating questions. Commissioner Frazier suggested keeping a sliding scale. Chair Bertsch asked Ms. Pelayo to redo the evaluation form with only headings, and the commissioners are to fill in the description. He stated that they would have a workshop on January 19, 2006, at 3:00 p.m. at the Hilo Police Station conference room to develop the chief's evaluation form and then do the actual evaluation. They will then vote on the acceptance of the evaluation at the monthly meeting on January 20, 2006. NEW BUSINESS • 2006 Meeting Schedule: Vice Chair Lassiter moved and Commissioner Lundkvist seconded to accept the schedule as presented. The motion carried unanimously. • Election of Chair and Vice Chair for 2006 Commissioner Kaoiwi nominated Pudding Lassiter as Chair and Melvin Morimoto as Vice Chair. Both accepted. Commissioner Lundkvist nominated James Frazier as Vice Chair. Frazier declined. Commissioner Frazier nominated Kaloa Robinson as Vice Chair. Robinson accepted. Commissioner Kaoiwi stated that he nominated Lassiter and Morimoto because there would be representation on both the east and west side of the island. This would make a good working relationship with people. Chair Bertsch stated that was a good idea, but in the five years he's been on the commission, there has never been an east -west side dispute. Hawaii County Police Commission Regular Session Minutes December 16, 2005 Page 5 Voting results: Robinson as Vice Chair: Frazier, Bertsch, Lundkvist, and Robinson. Morimoto as Vice Chair: Kaoiwi, Lassiter, Mitchell, Morimoto. Chair Bertsch stated that voting for Vice Chair would be deferred to the next meeting. Lassiter was unanimously voted in as Chair. ACTION ON EXECUTIVE SESSION MATTERS • Complaint HPC 05 -27: Complainant alleged that he did not get any cooperation from the Police Department when he tried to get answers about his son's arrest and the damage to his truck. Commissioner Robinson moved and Commissioner Lundkvist seconded that there was insufficient evidence to prove the complainant's allegations. The motion carried unanimously STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: None. ANNOUNCEMENTS • Chair Bertsch announced that the Police Commission's next monthly meeting will be on January 20, 2006, at 9:00 a.m., at the Hawaii Naniloa Resort, Palm Lounge, 93 Banyan Drive, Hilo. On January 19, 2006, at 3:00 p.m., they will hold a workshop at the Hilo Police Station conference room to develop a new Chief of Police Evaluation Form and to conduct an evaluation of the Chief. • Collection of Files and Documents — Done. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 11:46 a.m. SUBMITTED: JOSIE PELAYO, SECRETARY APPROVED: JOHN M. BERTSCH, CHAIR