Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-08-24 Police Commission MinutesHAWAII POLICE COMMISSION REGULAR SESSION MINUTES FRIDAY, AUGUST 24, 2012 WAIMEA COMMUNITY CENTER CONFERENCE ROOM 62 -1260 KAWAIHAE ROAD, KAMUELA, HAWAII CALL TO ORDER Chair Ono called the meeting to order at 9:10 A.M. ROLL CALL Present: Kenneth T. Ono, Chair Carol R. Ignacio, Vice Chair Donn S. Mende, Commissioner Guy K. Schutte, Commissioner Leroy J. Victorine, Commissioner Excused: Paul W. Horner, Commissioner Michelle L. Kualii, Commissioner Jessanie L. Marques, Commissioner T. Ka`ili Pe`a- Ferrari, Commissioner A quorum was present. Also Present: Harry S. Kubojiri, Police Chief Paul K. Ferreira, Deputy Chief Marshall Kanehailua, Assistant Chief Paul Kealoha, Assistant Chief Samuel Kawamoto, Captain Lincoln S. T. Ashida, Corporation Counsel Josie Pelayo, Secretary APPROVAL OF AGENDA Commissioner Victorine moved to approve the agenda. Vice Chair Ignacio seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS — None. APPROVAL OF MINUTES • July 20, 2012, regular and executive sessions: Vice Chair Ignacio moved to approve the regular and executive session minutes with non - substantive typographical corrections. Commissioner Victorine seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously. Hawaii Police Commission Regular Session Minutes August 24, 2012 Page 2 COMMUNICATIONS • Correspondence 2012 -06: Request for representation by Corporation Counsel for Police Officers James Waiamau and Matthew Bartz in Civil No. 12 -1 -0403. Discussion was held in Executive Session. POLICE CHIEF'S REPORT ON DEPARTMENT ACTIVITIES Including, but not limited to: • Crime report by area, category, and trends. Assistant Chief Henry Tavares reported that up through July 31, 2012, there were 851 serious crimes. The Area I and II Criminal Investigative Units investigated 256 of those cases. For the month of July, the department received 7,809 calls for service, of which 2,479 were related to Criminal /Traffic and 5,330 were Miscellaneous Public Requests. Crime trends in the Hilo District show an increase in burglaries and car break -ins. A special enforcement unit is addressing the burglary complaints and car break -ins. They have seen a rise in burglaries in lower Puna in the Hawaiian Paradise Park, Orchidland, Ainaloa, and Hawaiian Beaches area. Two officers are focusing their efforts on these burglaries. Crime trends in Area II show an increase in auto thefts in the Kailua town area to Keauhou. To combat that problem, they have a special enforcement unit as well as community policing officers working with confidential informants. Patrol and traffic enforcement have been increased in these areas. In response to an inquiry by Vice Chair Ignacio, AC Tavares stated that their special enforcement units in both areas are made up of 4 -5 officers and a supervisor. They concentrate their efforts on where the resources are needed most. In Hilo they are being bombarded with burglaries. It has risen to about 40 -50 burglaries in the last two months. These officers are concentrating their efforts in this area. Every report goes through them so they can see the similarities. For example, if they see a white Toyota seen leaving a house in Waiakea Uka and a white Toyota leaving a house in Papa`ikou, they can put that information together. Neighborhood watches and business watches do help. They recently started farm watches in Keaau. They work with Community Policing Officers. In response to Vice Chair Ignacio's inquiry, AC Tavares stated that jewelry is a hot ticket item. The price of gold has gone up, so jewelry is being cut up and taken to the gold dealers. One officer's main responsibility is to monitor the pawn shops daily, see who is coming in. A lot of the pawn shops have cameras. They do have some hits. The volume of property coming through is phenomenal. Assistant Chief Kealoha added that West Hawai is also experiencing the same thing, jewelry thefts, particularly gold. The majority of the offenders they arrest have Hawaii Police Commission Regular Session Minutes August 24, 2012 Page 3 one commonality which is illicit drug use, and the burglaries are being committed to support their habits. • Traffic report by area, category, and trends. AC Kealoha reported that for the month of July, 3,924 citations were issued - 2,779 Moving /Regulatory, 269 seatbelt, 35 child restraint, and 841 speeding. The fatality rate is up, 7 during this period compared to 4 during this time last year. Regarding traffic trends, Hilo's traffic accidents have decreased. The cause of accidents continues to be inattention to driving. Consistent locations are Komohana St., Kanoelehua Ave., and Kilauea Ave. Puna had an overall decrease in major traffic accidents; reasons have not been identified. Kona, had an increase in fatalities. Alcohol and a combination of drugs seem to be a common factor. Motorcycles are also involved. They are trying to educate the public through the media, and have received support from the public. In response to an inquiry about gold dealers, AC Tavares stated that they fall under the same rules that pawnshops must follow. There are gold dealers that come into town for two -day periods and set up shop at hotels. Gold can also be mailed out. They have sent letters to gold dealers informing them that they must comply with the rules. They are doing their best to enforce it, but it is very difficult. Vice Carol Ignacio thanked them for their leadership. Personnel report on vacancies, recruitment, training, promotions, reallocations, severance from service, and work assignments. Assistant Chief Kanehailua reported having 27 sworn vacancies, 33 with the 6 grant - funded positions. A recruit class will begin on September 16. They will start with possibly 26 new recruits and will look at rehiring and intergovernmental hires from Honolulu and Kauai. They have 13 sergeant vacancies. The lieutenant's interviews are being held today. In response to inquiries, AC Kanehailua stated that the bulk of their vacancies come from retirees, not from recruits. The first 18 months is where their bulk attrition is for recruits. He explained the promotional process. The promotions test is administered by the County' Human Resources Department. HR gives them a certified list which they have no control over. For every one vacancy, they have five names plus two. An assessment team forwards a write -up of its review and recommendation to the Chief. They must have backups to support any challenges. They have 22 civilian vacancies, half of which are school crossing guards which have been unfunded. The have had great difficulty filling the crossing guard positions. Yesterday, they got a request from their HR department to up the background screening on the school crossing guards because they work in the Hawaii Police Commission Regular Session Minutes August 24, 2012 Page 4 school system. They want an even tighter selection process, and they are now looking at adjusting the standards. • Finance report of budget and expenditures. AC Kanehailua stated that for salaries and wages they are above where they are supposed to be at due to a payroll lag. This should even out as the year goes by. Regarding CALEA, AC Kanehailua reported that their assessment went well. They need to tighten up some issues before the November conference. The mock assessors and these last assessors looked at different things. They got a different perspective from different departments. The two assessors came from police departments of less than 70. One assessor came from a 10 square mile department. HPD has over 500 sworn and civilian employees and 4,000 square miles. Their CALEA Accreditation Team of Lieutenant Bugado, Sergeant Amon - Wilkens, Sergeant Reggie Saludares, Officer Chris Correa, and two clerks did an outstanding job and were commended by the assessors who have done 60+ assessments. They said HPD probably has the best CALEA Accreditation team they have seen. A lot of things they have to work on deal with training according to national standards. The assessors will put together a report to the CALEA Commission. The Chief and his staff will attend a conference in Jacksonville, Florida, on November 14 -16, and the decision on whether or not they get accredited will be done at the conference. Chief Kubojiri gave kudos to their CALEA staff, the commanders, and the entire department, both sworn and civilian. They all took the CALEA process to heart. The interaction they had with the assessors was positive. It was not any one individual that made this process work, but they had to get the buy -in from all employees. They took it to heart, and they are all better for it as a department. He is very proud of them. Chair Ono stated that he attended the CALEA public hearing in Hilo. The assessors were appreciative of the police commission's participation. The majority of the statements to the committee were complaints regarding medical marijuana rather than discussion about the police department. He got a good response from the assessor who got an appreciation of the size of the island. Chief Kubojiri expressed his appreciation for the commission's participation in the public hearing, which he believes had a huge impact. The assessors pointed out some things for improvement which they have rectified. They wanted equal opportunity for employment. They explained that the County's Department of Human Resources is the one who handles this, but they wanted the police department to have a policy in place to ensure that minorities are hired. They wanted signage in English and the most predominant minority language. They fared pretty well on their exit interview. They shared where they could improve and what their strong points were. They will be giving a positive recommendation to the Hawaii Police Commission Regular Session Minutes August 24, 2012 Page 5 CALEA board. All the issues found during their assessment will have to be addressed at the conference in November. Regarding promotions, Chief Kubojiri stated that the process is designed so that the Chief's Office does not see the names of those up for promotion until after the assessment is done. Even prior to that, before they get the certified list from the Department of Human Resources, he has to identify the number of positions he will fill. The first position draws five names. Every subsequent position draws two additional names for this certified list. The certified list is given directly to the Assistant Chief of Administration. Everything is kept away from the Chief's Office to minimize allegations of impropriety. • Commendations of sworn and civilian employees. Chief Kubojiri reported receiving 15 commendations involving 34 personnel since the last meeting. When they get commendations, they respond to the person, the officer gets a copy, and it is placed in the officer's personnel file. • Other departmental activities including those related to administration and operations. — No further discussion. Recess was called at 9:52 p.m. The meeting reconvened 10:07 a.m. EXECUTIVE SESSION Commissioner Victorine moved to consider discipline and charges against officers or employees of the Hawai'i Police Department, to consider sensitive matters relating to public safety, 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 (a) (2) (4) (6) and the Hawai'i County Charter Section 13 -20 (b). Commissioner Schutte seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously. Executive session convened at 10:08 a.m. Regular session reconvened at 11:44 a.m. ACTION ON EXECUTIVE SESSION MATTERS • Correspondence 2012 -06: Request for representation by Corporation Counsel for Police Officers James Waiamau and Matthew Bartz in Civil No. 12 -1 -0403. Commissioner Mende moved to provide legal representation by Corporation Counsel for both officers. Commissioner Victorine seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously. Complaints ✓ HPC 12 -10: Complainant alleged that an officer used excessive force during his arrest. Commissioner Victorine moved that there was insufficient evidence to prove the complainant's allegations of misconduct. Commissioner Schutte seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously. Hawaii Police Commission Regular Session Minutes August 24, 2012 Page 6 ✓ HPC 12 -26: Complainant was served a writ of eviction. Officers were requested to standby. Complainant complained about the manner in which they were treated. He requests a reconsideration of the commission's decision that there was insufficient evidence of police misconduct. No motion was made, and the commission's previous decision stands. ANNOUNCEMENTS • Chair Ono announced that the Police Commission's next monthly meeting will be on September 14, 2012, at 9:00 a.m., in the Puna Conference Room, Hawaii County Building, 25 Aupuni St., Hilo, Hawaii. Chair Ono announced that October's meeting date will be changed due to a conflict with the Inter - County Criminal Intelligence Unit Conference. • Collection of files and documents. Done. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 11:49 a.m. SUBMITTED: JOSIE PELAYO, SECRETARY APPROVED: KENNETH T. ONO, CHAIR