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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-05-02 Committee on People with Disabilities Minutes COMMITTEE ON PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES Friday, May 2, 2008, 10:30 a.m. Aupuni Center Conference Room PRESENT: Michael Gleason, Chair; Laura Tobosa, Secretary; Jack Matsui, Jean Navarro, James Souza, Ronald Wagner-Wright, Ted Yamanaka EXCUSED: Lawrence Scadden GUESTS: Malina Dravis-Tucker, Interpreter; Chontel Eugenio-Ayin, Mayor’s Office; Sergeant Kelly Kaaumoana-Matsumoto, Police Department; Woody Kita, Aging and Disability Resource Center; Alisa Mitchener, Recreation Specialist-Department of Parks and Recreation; Ofelia Pertubal, CNA; Judy Simons, Teri Spinola-Campbell, ADA Coordinator (Equal Opportunity Officer); Sergeant Harold Sumaoang, Police Department; Deidre Sumic, Aging and Disability Resource Center CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 10:35 a.m. An introduction of committee members, staff, and guests was made. APPROVAL OF MINUTES J. Matsui made a motion to accept the minutes of March 7, 2008. L. Tobosa seconded the motion. The motion was passed. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ISSUES None. TREASURER’S REPORT The treasurer’s report was reviewed. T. Yamanaka made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report as submitted. J. Souza seconded the motion. The motion was passed. CORRESPONDENCE A. Letter from Norman Olesen, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Accessible Parking, requesting information concerning enforcement activities in our county M. Gleason said that he and Sgt. K. Kaaumoana-Matsumoto would work together on preparing information to N. Olesen. COMMUNITY LIAISON REPORTS A. EDUCATION/PUBLIC AWARENESS LIAISON – M. GLEASON/J. NAVARRO/ R. WAGNER-WRIGHT J. Navarro reported that she is trying to contact the right people where they are in their budget year and how much funds will be received this fiscal year for WIA. Hawai‘i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer M. Gleason suggested that she contact Susan Akiyama, Office of Housing and Community Development, at 961-8379. B. RECREATION LIAISON – L. SCADDEN No report. C. TRANSPORTATION LIAISON – R. WAGNER-WRIGHT No report. D. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS LIAISON – L. SCADDEN M. Gleason reported that J. Viernes will provide copies of the 2008 Interagency Action Plan for the Emergency Preparedness of People with Disabilities and Special Health Needs for MCPD members. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. VOLUNTEER PARKING VIOLATION ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM UPDATE – SGT. K. KAAUMOANA-MATSUMOTO Sergeant K. Kaaumoana-Matsumoto reported the program has been going on a number of years in Kona.There are four active members that go out and do parking enforcement. A quarterly statistics report is sent to MCPD. Currently, they have some applications for additional enforcement candidates that would like to be a part of the program. The requirements for the program are a person must be at least 21 years of age, U.S. citizen and resident of the State of Hawaii, cannot have a felony conviction or conviction for crime of violence, and any type of drug conviction. A background check is conducted and an annual physical examination. Training is done for the volunteers once they have met the requirements and they are willing to accept the responsibility of the program. Part of the program is explaining what is required of them, what the laws are, and what the volunteers will be enforcing with regards to the parking laws. M. Gleason asked the status of the program for East Hawaii and whether there will be any advertisements about the program. Sergeant K. Kaaumoana-Matsumoto responded that there are two applicants from Hilo, one from Waimea, and one from Puna. There have not been any recent advertisements, but there were in the past. J. Souza reported that a lot of people told him that they are interested, but they don’t know how to apply, what to do, or who to contact. R. Wagner-Wright inquired about applying for the program and whether he may be accepted into the program since he is blind. Sergeant K. Kaaumoana-Matsumoto said she does not make the final decision on who is hired. The Police Department is looking at applicants that would be beneficial to the community and who are even tempered. It is a confrontational situation so they would not prefer a person who is short tempered and can withstand the rigors of the job. 2 A. Mitchener stated that the requirement of the job is that two people go together. You cannot discriminate against applicants with disabilities. Modifications are made in order to make them do what is needed. She offered to provide disability or ability awareness training for the volunteer enforcement officers. J. Matsui asked about protection for the volunteer enforcement officers. Sergeant K. Kaaumoana-Matsumoto said that it is recommended that the volunteers partner up and go together. If there is some type of a confrontation with a person, the volunteer should call police dispatch and they will send a police officer down. In addition, the volunteer enforcement officers wear identification and they also have a t-shirt which identifies the program. Sergeant K. Kaaumoana-Matsumoto stated that it’s not necessary that the volunteer enforcement officers have to issue a citation. She spoke to a volunteer officer and she said that they will try to talk to people first before taking out their citation book. They try to speak to the violators to educate them first. A. Mitchener pointed out that she worked really hard to get this service going. Part of the goal was to make it a deputy position so people could do citations. People who are parking in an accessible parking space parking illegally is against the law. There is a fine. If they don’t have a placard and if they don’t have a reason to park there, then they are breaking the law and they need to be ticketed. People with disabilities have fought for this issue for a long time. To discount it is really hard because it doesn’t serve those who really need it. A person who gets a ticket for $500 is not going to park there again. She feels very strongly that the volunteer enforcement officers have been set up to issue citations and they should continue to enforce it. M. Gleason stated that MCPD has fought hard for this program and the committee used some of their budget to purchase supplies for the volunteer enforcement officers. Education is important and MCPD should also concentrate on getting enforcement for East Hawaii. T. Spinola-Campbell reported that DCAB made four public service announcements on accessible parking which they played in one of the movie theatre chain for about a month. She has been unsuccessful with having the announcement broadcast on Na Leo ‘O Hawaii. She suggested that MCPD bring forward the public service announcement to one of the movie theatre chains or try to have the Police Department air the announcement. M. Gleason offered to pursue this issue through the county administration since MCPD’s duty is to advise the Mayor. M. Gleason asked if there are going to be any other effort to recruit more volunteers. MCPD may be able to support some advertising, training, and supplies. Sergeant K. Kaaumoana-Matsumoto said not in the near future because they will work on the candidates they have right now. 3 B. UPDATE FROM DCAB – C. FLEMING/N. OLESEN/F. WAI The April and May report from F. Wai, Executive Director of DCAB, was distributed to MCPD members. C. ADA COORDINATOR’S REPORT – T. SPINOLA-CAMPBELL T. Spinola-Campbell provided her report as the ADA Coordinator for April 2008. ADA Coordinator’s report attached. D. PARKS AND RECREATION REPORT – A. MITCHENER A. Mitchener circulated samples of a Mobi mat which is used to provide access over the sand to the ocean. She also circulated a picture of a beach wheelchair that the county is looking to purchase. She provided her report on beach access for people with disabilities, Aquatics Division, and the Recreation Division. Report attached. E. ADA TRAINING FOR EMPLOYERS – M. GLEASON M. Gleason reported that he has been working with Blayne Hanagami, Workforce Development and the one stop center that they have. This is one of the components that they are looking at to put into a business service center for different employers. He will update MCPD on their progress. The meeting was recessed at 11:25 a.m.The meeting was reconvened at 11:30 a.m. NEW BUSINESS A. TASER TRAINING – SGT. HAROLD SUMAOANG Sergeant H. Sumaoang displayed a taser gun and explained the amperage. It will not cause any permanent damage, but they are concern what the effects are after being struck with this device. This device works on muscular and neuro types of communication. When it sends out the probe, it sends an electrical impulse which affects your nerves and your muscles. It gives out just the right type of pattern so that your muscle would react to that electrical impulse. It sends the same type of impulse, but this impulse mimics pain and it also mimics rigidity. The brain is very sensitive to any kind of nerve impulse going to your brain saying that this is painful. When he was struck, it was the most painful experience for five seconds. But, as soon as the five seconds stopped, there is no after effect. He was trained above and beyond what the company required. The company recommends that the police officers receive two to fours training for this device. However, they do eight hours of training instead. They go through all the scenarios and they review their rules on how they use force which is called force continuum. They need to justify what type of force to use on a person that is giving minimum type of resistance or resisting completely or is endangering somebody’s life. They generally speak to that person or give them gestures and so forth. If a person resist, he has other devices on his belt to utilize such as his baton, pepper spray, or a taser gun. The more resistance that the officers get or depending on the type of threat they receive, then they jump to that necessary force to either stop the threat or to 4 arrest that person. Sergeant H. Sumaoang said this is one of the best tools that they have in the police department. Sergeant H. Sumaoang said that the probe releases two probes one negative and one positive which will extend approximately fifteen to twenty-five feet. Once the probe connects to the body, it completes the circuit thereby giving the correct impulse approximately five seconds of triple impulse. Before using the taser, a spy test is done where they will turn the cartridge on and off. Once the taser is on, a laser device is visible indicating that the taser is on. The taser is mainly used when the suspect is resisting the officer and there is no compliance. The taser is the last option used. The probes are about .40 inches long and the officers are taught how to remove these probes from the person’s body. There are areas on the body where a taser is limited to such as the extremities or central body area. The probe will not be deployed on a person’s head. He also checked the records for confrontations using this device with anyone with a disability and no records were found. J. Souza asked what type of procedures are made when a suspect is deaf and has their back turned against the officer. How can they communicate if they are detained and they can’t use their hands? Sergeant H. Sumaoang said that they are required to verbalize first than hands on with the person. If a person is not bumping, pushing or trying to strike the officer, then they will not deploy their taser. The main reason for the taser is for the safety of the officer and safety for the person of getting hurt. R. Wagner-Wright asked Sergeant H. Sumaoang to describe the taser and it’s effects so that he could picture it in his mind. Sergeant H. Sumaoang said that there are good and bad things of using the baton, pepper spray and taser. On the positive note, the baton is handy if the officer is good at maneuvering the baton to secure somebody. The baton can be maneuvered in a manner which is an extension of your arm. However, a person may receive nerve, joint or bone damage if struck by a baton. The taser may not always work correctly because ideally it uses electricity so a good contact is very important. If the probe is not impaled correctly, the person might not have any effects and that person might continue coming towards the officer. If the probe is not impaled far away from each another, it only affects the muscles between the two probes. If you use the pepper spray in the field and there is wind, an innocent person or police officer nearby may get the residual. There are so many variables involved with pepper spray which could cause you to escalate to a different higher force. A. Mitchener stated that the police recruits go through a disability awareness training. She wondered if there is any kind of effort to do disability training refreshers with the long time officers. Sergeant H. Sumaoang agreed having 5 refresher training is the best thing. He recommended with the police department that they do a quarterly taser training and a yearly refresher training. B. FUNDING OF PUBLIC EDUCATION PROJECTS – A. MITCHENER A. Mitchener requested funding for $300 of education training videos and shipping cost of approximately $100 for Mobi-mat loan project for May 28 surf day event at Kahaluu Beach Park. L. Tobosa made a motion to approve this request. T. Yamanaka seconded the motion. The motion was passed. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON NON-AGENDA ISSUES W. Kita reported that the Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) is bringing in the aging network and one disability population together and to provide information, connection with services, facilities, and bringing the range of information of long term care options. Their new site, the former Sun Sun Lau building, is one year behind and may be open in the summer. The tenants are the Office of the Aging, Hawaii County Nutrition Program, Coordinated Services for the Elderly, Senior Training and Employment Program, and Department of Human Services Adult and Community Care. Private agencies are Services for Seniors, Arc of Hilo, Alzheimers Association, Managed Care Organization, Legal Aid Society, and the Case Management Coordination Project. ANNOUNCEMENTS The next meeting will be held on Friday, June 6, 2008, at 10:30 a.m. in the Kona Mayor’s Office conference room. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 12:03 p.m. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, _______________________________ JEAN VIERNES, STAFF SECRETARY 6