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HomeMy WebLinkAboutKPC 10-26-2018 Draft Open Session MinutesCOUNTY OF KAUAI DRAFT Minutes of Meeting OPEN SESSION Board/Commission Kauai Police Commission Meeting Date I October 26, 2018 Location Mo'ikeha Building — Meeting Room 2A/B Start of Meeting: 9:00 a.m. End of Meeting:10: 59 a.m. Present Chair Gerald Bahouth; Vice Chair Mary K. Hertog; Commissioners: Catherine Adams, Leina'ala Jardin, Kevin Mince and Roy Morita Also present: Board & Commissions Office Staff. Support Clerk Mercedes Omo; Administrator Nicholas R. Courson; Office of the County Attorney: Deputy County Attorney Mark Ishmael; Police Department: Acting Chief of Police Michael Contrades, Assistant Chief Bryson Ponce; Captains Paul Applegate and Roderick Green; Officers of the Month: Kristopher Breyer, Joel Snyder and Creighton Tamagawa and numerous ranking officers in the Kauai Police Department; and Human Resource Manager Jill Niitani. Excused Absent SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Call To Order Chair Bahouth called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. with six Commissioners present to conduct business. Chair's None. Comments/ Announcements Officers of the The Kauai Police Department along with the Kauai Police Commission honored Patrol Month Services Bureau Officers of the month Kristopher Breyer, Creighton Tamagawa and Joel Snyder for their life-saving accomplishments on three separate incidents in June and August. Acting Chief Contrades presented all three Officers with certificates of outstanding service and commitment to the community. Officer Breyer — On June 2, while off duty with his family at the Kauai Marriott Resort in the Lihu`e, Officer Breyer was alerted to a child under water where he immediately jumped into the pool and brought the child to safety. Kauai Police Commission Regular Open Session Meeting Minutes of October 26, 2018 Page 2 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Officer Creighton Tamagawa — On August 9, while on duty Officers Tamagawa and Ryan Bibiloni went to a residence in the Lihu`e district to serve a criminal bench warrant on a 44 year old male. While advising the suspect of his arrest a 40 year old family member began suffering a panic attack and was going in and out if conscious the medics were called but while waiting for their arrival the female subject stopped breathing in which time Officer Tamagawa administered CPR to the woman where she was able to regain consciousness and was assisted by the medics who gave her medical attention. Officer Joel Snyder — On August 18, while off -duty attending a wedding reception at a resort, Officer Snyder noticed a female guest choking on food and needed help. He immediately applied the Heimlich maneuver, which cleared her airway and she was able to breath normally again. Reading the commendations for the Officers of the Month was Captain Roderick Green. Approval of Chair Bahouth called for a motion to amend or approve the meeting minutes. Ms. Adams moved to accept the Meeting Minutes meeting minutes of September of September 28, 28, 2018 as circulated. 2018 Mr. Morita seconded the motion. The motion carried 6:0. Chiefs Monthly 1. Administrative and Technical Bureau Reports for the period of September 2018 Reports 2. Investigative Services Bureau 3. Summary Reports: Calls for Service and Incident, Collision, Traffic Enforcement, Arrest, Offense by Severity, Warrant/Warrant Type and Legal Services Acting Chief Contrades commended the investigative services bureau for doing an outstanding job in dealing with property crimes on the island and the vice unit for their work in assisting the United States Postal Service (USPS) in seizing 1,020 gram of crystal methamphetamine that was sent through USPS. Kauai Police Commission Regular Open Session Meeting Minutes of October 26, 2018 Page 3 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Other notable announcements included: • KPD's Drug -Take -Back on Saturday, October 27, 2018 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lihu`e Headquarters • Installation of the new SAMS software by officers of the Portland Police Department • Shadow OPS Ride -a -Long Program • Acting Chief Contrades and Assistant Chief Ponce attendance to the ICAP Conference • Re -visit of the KPD's written recruit exam with the assistance of the Department of Human Resources • Commendations went out to the Chief s executive staff for stepping up during the transition to find a new chief of police and the Police Commission for doing an outstanding job in finding a new chief of police. Vice Chair Hertog asked what prompt KPD to change its written exam and what the difference was. Acting Chief Contrades stated that the change was due to numerous complaints about the previous exam being difficult to pass the only difference in regard to the new exam is it has memorization and arithmetic questions. Vice Chair Hertog asked what the other than recruitment and retention what was the outcome of his discussion with the other chiefs on morale. Acting Chief Contrades stated that recruitment, retention and morale are the three things that each chief of police have always struggled with. One Chief in particular by the name of Glidden provided great tips on how to deal with low morale in the department and the presentation by Gordon Graham also provided great tips. Mr. Morita asked relative to the report on the amount of drugs seized why is the value in the report always zero. Acting Chief Contrades stated that other than the Department vices section that always record the drugs value because it's part of the requirement; however, the patrol officers does not have that time of training or knowledge to put a value on the drugs that are seized. Kauai Police Commission Regular Open Session Meeting Minutes of October 26, 2018 Page 4 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Chair Bahouth asked relative to the Take -Back -Drug Program has there been an increase in the amount of drugs that are being turned in. Acting Chief Contrades stated that the program serves it purpose. Business Discussion and possible decision -making on revising the Kauai Police Commission Rules Deferred on October 26, 2018 KPC 2018-06 on Administrative Practice and Procedure to reflect the Intermediate Court of Appeals decision of June 2016 regarding the discipline of the chief of police, commission oversight and supervision of the chief. (Deferred on September 26, 2018) At 9:41 a.m. Chair Bahouth called for a five minute recess. At 9:48 a.m. the meeting reconvened. YIP General overview by representatives from the Department of Human Resources on the 2018-15 procedures used in the investigation of County department heads subject to removal by a Board or Commission. Mr. Mince stated that the item was placed on the agenda because the Commission keeps getting complaints filed against department heads in the Kauai Police Department which does not fall within the purview of the Commission. Ms. Niitani explained that when a complaint is filed a certain department head the complaint would normally go to a respective commission which might be referred back if the commission is able to convene an investigator to investigate the complaint. The complaint is then referred to the Mayor and then to the Commission. In the Police Commission case, if a formal complaint was made against the Chief the Commission would have to determine if an investigation needs to take place and once that's determine the Commission shall cause the Mayor to have an investigation conducted which is usually referred to the Department of Human Resource to investigate. But in cases where a complaint is filed directly to KPD that's another issue that still needs to be clarified. Kauai Police Commission Regular Open Session Meeting Minutes of October 26, 2018 Page 5 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Vice Chair Hertog stated that Ms. Niitani's did a valiant job in trying to explain the process but it only highlights how confusing the process is that the policy has engendered. For example, if a complaint comes in against the chief and it has to do with the daily operations of the department, the Commission cannot get involved based on the language in the Charter. Chair Bahouth noted that any complaint that is made against the Chief of Police should be referred to HR to investigate. Vice Chair Hertog noted that the Commission has the means to run its own independent investigation if it chooses to do so. Mr. Courson stated that he agrees with Vice Chair Hertog that there needs to be improvements made to the policy and to Chair Bahouth point, in some cases complaints that are referred to HR are not necessarily outside of the Commission kuleana, but just an acknowledgement that the Commission could not do itself and in those cases, the results of the investigation would go directly to the Commission for review and to determine the type of action is needed if at all necessary. Vice Chair Hertog reiterated that the Commission has the option of hiring its own investigator. Mr. Mince added that the confusion that he sees and what he thinks had prompted this whole issue is when the policy was first drafted the Commission was already dealing with the overall complaint policy against KPD, and through the County attorney it was determined that the Commission had no authority to investigate internal personnel complaints inside of the Department. To his point, the Commission was already receiving complaints alleging unfair personnel practices inside KPD and it happened that the Chief s name was attached to the complaint. So when the policy was created several complaints were filed with the Mayor using the policy but was later kicked down to the Commission alleging something internal was happening, but it was not within the purview of the Commission to review. But if a complaint outright involves the Chief of Police it would be under the Commission's purview to investigate. Kauai Police Commission Regular Open Session Meeting Minutes of October 26, 2018 Page 6 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Chair Bahouth stated that the process is still very confusing and until Mr. Trask's directive to the Commission is resolved the complaint process is going to remain that way. Mr. Courson stated that Mr. Mince did an excellent job in summarizing the complaint process and that Chair Hertog's comment about complaints that have nothing to do with the Chief, if it's merely form and not substance, then the Commission should refer to the complaint to HR because it would out of the Commission's purview. Mr. Mince stated that the Commission received two complaints that adhered to the policy so the Commission kicked the complaints back to the Mayor because it was not within the Commission's purview. He asked how those complaints are being investigated and how the complaints being resolved. Ms. Niitani stated that she doesn't recall the first complaint. Mr. Courson advised the Commissioners to speak about the generalities of the complaints and without mentioning names. Chair Bahouth recalled that one if the complaints had something to do with the Chief having knowledge about incident in the Department and he didn't do anything about it. Vice Chair Hertog noted that to her knowledge both complaints were referred to HR. Ms. Adams agreed and noted that HR did an investigation into both complaints. Mr. Courson stated that if the complaints had more form than substance HR would have done an investigation but either way the complaints would eventually make its way to the Chief to decide what to do because he's is the head of the Department. Chair Bahouth pointed out that the implication had to do with the Chief knowing about an incident and yet he didn't do anything about it. He asked if it was possible for HR to look into their files to see whether the complaints were resolved and provide the Commission with a general update at the next meeting. Kauai Police Commission Regular Open Session Meeting Minutes of October 26, 2018 Page 7 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Mr. Courson stated that if the determination was something for the Chief to dispose of the Commission could ask HR to provide a general update as to the status of the complaints at the Commission's next meeting. Chair Bahouth asked Staff to place the item on the next agenda. Staff acknowledged the request and will place the item on the next agenda. Announcements Next regular monthly meeting - Friday, November 16, 2018, 9:00 a.m. at the Mo'ikeha Building, Meeting Room 2A/2B. Executive Session to follow. Pursuant to Hawaii Revised Statutes §92-4, §92-5 (a) (2) and (4), the purpose of this At 10:01 a.m. Vice Chair Executive Session is for the Commission to review and discuss charges brought against an Hertog cited the Hawaii officer or employee of the County, where consideration of matters affecting privacy will be Revised Statutes to bring the involved, provided that if the individual concerned requests an open meeting, an open meeting into Executive Session. meeting shall be held; and to consult with its attorney on issues pertaining to the Commission's and the County's powers, duties, privileges, immunities, and or liabilities as they may relate to the following agenda items: ES Monthly update by Office of Professional Standards Lieutenant Scott Williamson on the KPC 2018-001 status of the Department's disposition on all formal notarized complaints that were filed with the Kauai Police Department, including complaints that were filed with the Police Commission and referred to the Office of the Chief for further review. ES Monthly update by Acting Police Chief Michael Contrades or his designated representative KPC 2018-002 on any significant adverse incidents/events involving personnel in the Kauai Police Department that could potentially impact the County, the Police Commission and the Kauai Police Department ES Pursuant to Hawaii Revised Statutes §92-4 and §92-5 (a) and (2) and (4), the purpose of KPC 2018-025 this Executive Session is for the Commission to discuss the hiring of a new Police Chief and other related items, and to consult with its attorney on questions and issues pertaining to the Commission's powers, duties, privileges, immunities and liabilities as they may relate to this agenda item. (On -going) Kauai Police Commission Regular Open Session Meeting Minutes of October 26, 2018 Page 8 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION ES Pursuant to Hawaii Revised Statutes §92-4, §92-5 (a) (4) the purpose of this Executive KPC 2018-031 Session is for the Commission to consult with its attorney on issues pertaining to the Commission's powers, duties, privilege immunities, and or liabilities as they may relate to a discussion and possible decision -making regarding administrative rules. (Deferred on September 26, 2018) ES Pursuant to Hawaii Revised Statutes §92-4, §92-5 (a) (4), §92-9 (a) (1-4) and (b), the Ms. Adams moved to enter into KPC 2018-032 purpose of this Executive Session is for the Commission to approve the Executive Session Executive Session. Mr. Morita meeting minutes of September 28, 2018 to consult with its attorney on issues pertaining to seconded the motion. The the Commission's powers, privileges, immunities, and or liabilities as they may relate to motion carried 6:0. this agenda item. At 10:03 a.m. the Commissioners entered into Executive Session. Return to Open At 10:59 a.m. the Commissioners reconvened in Open Session. Chair Bahouth called for a Ms. Adams moved to ratify the Session to Ratify motion to ratify the actions taken in Executive Session. actions taken in Executive the Actions Session for the following items. taken in Vice Chair Hertog seconded the Executive motion. The motion carried 6:0. Session ES KPC 2018-001: Motion carried 6:0 to receive the Monthly Reports. ES KPC 2018-002: The Commissioners received a briefed by Acting Chief Contrades regarding an on- Kauai Police Commission Regular Open Session Meeting Minutes of October 26, 2018 Page 9 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION going incident involving an employee in the Police Department. ES KPC 2018-025: On -going. ES KPC 2018-031: Deferred pending the selection of the finalists for the Chief of Police position. ES KPC 2018-032: Motion carried 6:0 to approve the Executive Session meeting minutes of September 28, 2018. Adjournment With no further business to conduct, Chair Bahouth called for a motion to adjourn the Ms. Adams moved to adjourn meeting. the meeting. Vice Chair Hertog seconded the motion. The motion carried 6:0. At 10:59 a.m. the meeting adjourned. Submitted by: Mercedes Omo, Staff Support Clerk ( x ) Approved as circulated on November 16, 2018 ( ) Approved as amended. See minutes of meeting. Reviewed and Approved by: Gerald Bahouth, Chair