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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-11-16 Police Commission Minutes HAWAI‘I POLICE COMMISSION REGULAR SESSION MINUTES NOVEMBER 16, 2012 WAIMEA COMMUNITY CENTER CALL TO ORDER Chair Ono called the meeting to order at 9:02 a.m. ROLL CALL Present: Kenneth T. Ono, Chair Paul W. Horner, Commissioner Michelle L. Kualii, Commissioner Guy K. Schutte, Commissioner Leroy J. Victorine, Commissioner Excused: Carol R. Ignacio, Vice Chair Jessanie L. Marques, Commissioner Donn S. Mende, Commissioner T. Ka‘ili Pe‘a-Ferrari, Commissioner Also Present: Paul Ferreira, Deputy Chief Paul Kealoha, Assistant Chief Randy Apele, Major Samuel Thomas, Major Samuel Kawamoto, Captain Lincoln S. T. Ashida, Corporation Counsel Josie Pelayo, Secretary APPROVAL OF AGENDA Commissioner Victorine moved to approve the agenda. Commissioner Horner seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS MR. TOBY TANIGUCHI spoke regarding Police Chief Harry Kubojiri’s annual evaluation. He stated that as a private citizen, he has gotten to know the Chief and commanders over the past year. They have done a very good job in protecting the citizens and our community. He is very impressed with the Chief’s leadership. APPROVAL OF MINUTES October 12, 2012, regular and executive sessions: Commissioner Victorine moved to approve the minutes with corrections to the executive session minutes. Commissioner Schutte seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously. POLICE CHIEF’S REPORT ON DEPARTMENTAL ACTIVITIES Including, but not limited to: Crime report by area, category, and trends: Major Apele reported that burglaries in Hilo decreased from the previous month. Puna had about 25 burglaries, a decreased from the previous month. Kona had a 45% decrease in burglaries and Hawaii Police Commission ‘ Regular Session Minutes November 16, 2012 Page 2 car thefts. They are working with pawn shops to identify stolen items. Kona apprehended 15 suspects including a couple of suspects who were responsible for the majority of the burglaries in Kona and some on East Hawai‘i. Burglaries are down due to help from the public. Assistant Chief Kealoha stated that the public is being more vigilant and reporting suspicious activities. Traffic report by area, category, and trends: Assistant Chief Kealoha reported that the majority of traffic accidents are in major intersections. Major Apele reported that most of the collisions are due to distractive driving and inattention, lots of rear end collisions. They are doing visible enforcement, check points, and roadblocks. More police presence might make a difference. During a DUI roadblock this month, they stopped a drunk driver with three under aged children without child restraints. AC Kealoha reported that this holiday season coincides with their DUI roadblocks. They will be hearing a lot of PSAs that assist with keeping the roads safer. AC Kealoha stated that that when it rains in Kona, accidents go up because people in Kona are not accustomed to rain. Personnel report on vacancies, recruitment, training, promotions, reallocations, severance from service, and work assignments: Major Thomas reported that as of yesterday, they had 37 sworn and 8 civilian vacancies. Finance report of budget and expenditures: Major Thomas reported that for the month ending October 31, targeted expenditures for salaries and wages was at 37.5%, and the department expended 35.2%. Other departmental activities: Deputy Chief Ferreira reported that Chief Kubojiri was attending the CALEA Certification Conference in Florida. He further reported that they submitted their budget to the county. Commissioner Victorine stated that he is still concerned about security in the Police Commission’s office. The office is isolated and down an empty hallway. He is concerned about complainants having confrontations in the commission’s office. Commissioner Schutte stated that they need a more secure door/window. Deputy Chief Ferreira stated that Police Administration will look into the area. NEW BUSINESS Discussion on the election of Chair and Vice Chair for 2013: Chair Ono stated that this is on the agenda for everyone to think about for the next meeting when they select the Chair and Vice Chair. EXECUTIVE SESSION Commissioner Victorine moved to meet in executive session to consider discipline and charges against officers or employees of the Hawai‘i Police Department, to consider sensitive matters relating to public safety, to discuss the annual evaluation of the Police Chief, and to consult with Corporation Counsel on questions and issues pertaining to Hawaii Police Commission ‘ Regular Session Minutes November 16, 2012 Page 3 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 10:00 a.m. Regular session reconvened at 10:17 a.m. Investigation and deliberation of Complaint HPC 12-36: Complainant Dylan Trumpy requested to be heard in open session. DYLAN TRUMPY, along with his mother, and brother Andrew Trumpy, came before the commission. Chair Ono told Mr. Trumpy that they read his complaint and are familiar with it, and he doesn’t need to go through it entirely. Mr. Trumpy stated that this is about police prejudice that has deprived him of his rights to equal protection under the law. He passed out photographs of injuries he said he sustained. He was attacked by three individuals. In a previous police commission complaint, Captain Miyamoto stated that he had no injuries that would support his allegations that he was assaulted. The photographs are obvious that someone gave him a black eye. That’s one aspect of his complaint. The other aspect of his complaint is that there were two videos made of him on his property. The videos are a violation of privacy, HRS 711-111. He complained to the police about it multiple times but no investigation was undertaken. He filed a police report on February 15, and that police report was not investigated. His brother was his witness, and he was not interviewed. He filed the complaint on February 15 when the events took placed on December 25 and 27 because he was denied filing a police report by Detective Sharlotte Bird. Detective Bird made a statement that his injuries were not consisted with being assaulted. He alleged that he was attacked by three individuals, but she only did an assault case against one of the individuals that attacked him. She willfully misrepresented his statement in a police report, basically filing a false police report to cover-up the wrongdoing of the men who assaulted him. Commissioner Horner told Mr. Trumpy that his allegation on this complaint was that the firefighters illegally video recorded him, and the responding officers did not arrest the firefighters. He asked what the assault he spoke about had to do with this complaint. Mr. Trumpy stated that the assault was a product of what happened at his house on th the 25. He went to the fire station to file a complaint, and there he was assaulted. The altercation was a fight. It wasn’t a one-sided thing. He attempted to leave, and he was followed out to his car. He did not make the first physical contact in that fight. There were two separate incidents with one day between. The assault was on December 27, 2011. There was a criminal case. No charges were brought. He recently made a plea bargain. He pleaded to terroristic threatening and assault in Hawaii Police Commission ‘ Regular Session Minutes November 16, 2012 Page 4 conjunction with the two events on the two separate days. The police refused to investigate his claims, and it infringed on his rights to a fair trial because they are supposed to gather evidence. Chair Ono told Mr. Trumpy that the complaint before them is solely to do with the incident at his home on December 25, not anything that happened after that. His complaint is about the fire department illegally video recording him at his house, and that the police failed to do anything about it. Mr. Trumpy stated that it was okay to focus on the illegal video recording. He asked if they wanted to see the HRS that details what constituted a violation of privacy. Chair Ono stated that they have the HRS. Mr. Trumpy stated that he is trying to show pervasive prejudice against him that has denied him the right to a fair trial and equal protection under the law. Commissioner Horner told Mr. Trumpy that if they decide there was misconduct, they would pursue it through the police department with an investigation. ANDREW TRUMPY spoke about fire personnel harassing them on Christmas. Commissioner Schutte told Mr. Trumpy that they are the Police Commission. They handle police issues, not fire department issues. (The Trumpys exited.) EXECUTIVE SESSION Commissioner Schutte moved to meet in executive session again to consider discipline and charges against officers or employees of the Hawai‘i Police Department, to consider sensitive matters relating to public safety, to discuss the annual evaluation of the Police Chief, 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 Victorine seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously. Executive session convened at 10:32 a.m. Open session reconvened at 10:55 a.m. ACTION ON EXECUTIVE SESSION MATTERS Complaint HPC 12-36: Commissioner Victorine moved to decline further investigation because the complaint was not received within 90 days of the incident. (Pursuant to Police Commission Rule 9.) Commissioner Horner seconded the motion, and it carried unanimously. Hawaii Police Commission ‘ Regular Session Minutes November 16, 2012 Page 5 ANNOUNCEMENTS Chair Ono announced that the Police Commission’s next meeting will be on December 21, 2012, at 9:00 a.m., in the Aupuni Center Conference Room, 101 Pauahi St., Hilo, Hawai‘i. Collection of files and documents. – Done. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 10:58 a.m. SUBMITTTED BY: JOSIE PELAYO, SECRETARY APPROVED BY: KENNETH T. ONO, CHAIR