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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019_11_22 PC Minutes COUNTY OF KAUAI Minutes of Meeting OPEN SESSION Board/Commission Kaua‘i Police Commission Meeting Date November 22, 2019 Location Mo`ikeha Building – Meeting Room 2A/B Start of Meeting: 9:00 a.m. End of Meeting: 12:01 p.m. Present Chair Mary K. Hertog; Vice Chair Roy Morita; Commissioners: Catherine Adams, Gerald Bahouth, Leina`ala Jardin, Kevin Mince and Dean Pigao. Also present: Board & Commissions Office Staff: Support Clerk Mercedes Omo; Administrator Ellen Ching; Office of the County Attorney: Deputy County Attorney Mark Ishmael; Kaua‘i Police Department: Chief of Police Todd G. Raybuck; Assistant Chiefs; Roy Asher, Mark Begley and Bryson Ponce; Captains Elliott “Ke” Ke, Captains Roderick Green and Mark Ozaki; Office of Professional Standards Sergeant Ginny Pia; Acting Lieutenant Shane Sokei; Officers of the Month Vernon Basuel and Aaron Relacion and numerous senior staff members in the Kaua‘i Police Department. Testimony Councilmember Felicia Cowden SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Call To Order With (7) seven members present, Chair Hertog called the meeting to order. Chair’s Announcements Next monthly meeting 9:00 a.m. on December 20, 2019 at the Mō’ikeha Building, Meeting Room 2A/2B. Executive Session to follow Recognition for Officers of the Month Nominator for Officers of the Month Acting Lieutenant Shane Sokei read the commendation report for KPD Officers Vernon Basuel and Tyson Relacion. On July 7, 2019 Officers Basuel and Relacion was dispatched to a local residence in Kīlauea to a report of gun shots fired or something that sounded like an explosion. Upon arrival at the scene, Officers Basuel and Relacion noticed a female standing outside a unit. As they approached her, she indicated to them that a man inside of the unit had a gun. Using the vehicles in area to shield themselves from potentially being shot at, they quickly took cover and noticed the man exiting the unit with a rifle and ammunition in his hands. After multiple verbal attempts to get the man to put the rifle down (which was later determined to be fully loaded) he finally complied and Officers Basuel and Relacion were able to take him into custody without further incident. KPC Regular Open Session Meeting Minutes of November 22, 2019 Page 2 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION A subsequent search of the male living quarters, storage area and vehicle by members of the Investigative Services Bureau resulted in additional rifles and rounds of ammunition recovered. Chief Raybuck praised Officers Basuel and Relacion for a job well done. He then presented each of them with a special honorary pin and a certificate of exemplary service in recognition of their ability to keep clam while under pressure and for using coercion as leverage to secure the male subject without any loss of life. Chair Hertog along with the rest of the Commissioners commended Officers Basuel and Relacion for their act of bravery and courage despite their brush with danger. Approval of Minutes Regular Open Session Minutes of October 25, 2019. Ms. Adams moved to approve the minutes as circulated. Vice Chair Morita seconded the motion. The motion carried 7:0 Chief’s Quarterly Reports Prior to reporting his quarterly reports, Chief Raybuck introduced KPD’s new Public Information Officer Ms. Coco Zickos to the Commissioners.  KPD’s online reporting The online program went live on March 18, 2019 and as of October 14, 2019 158 calls were received of which majority of the calls were for loss property some theft, criminal property damage and a few calls for supplemental reports. The average response time saved to dispatch an officer to a specific location is thirty-two minutes for a savings of 82 hours in both response and work time. KPD is working on adding an abandoned vehicle report call-in in the near future.  Department’s efforts to improve the warrants tracking process With regard to the pass practices to have the County Attorney Office review all of KPD’s General Orders before they can implement it resulted in countless delays. Chief Raybuck was informed by First Deputy County Attorney Nicholas Courson that there was no need for the County Attorney’s Office to conduct a legal review of every single general order KPD wants to implement with the exception of those that may have liabilities issues. KPC Regular Open Session Meeting Minutes of November 22, 2019 Page 3 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Assistant Chief Ponce briefed the Commissioners on the history of the warrant tracking process whereas, in the past for each warrant issued a hard copy was generated by the courts and for each attempt made by an officer to try to serve a warrant, the officer had to manually jot down the specific date and time on paper. In effort to make the warrant tracking process efficient the judicial system transitioned over to an electronic e-warrant system, but in that KPD did not forge a connection between themselves and the judges asking how many attempts were made by an officer to serve a warrant and how many times a person was arrested and had to appear in court for a violation. To make the process less cumbersome for their officers both he and Captain Ke came up with a new system using the Spillman records management system to keep track of how many warrants were actually served or were attempted to be served. Captain Ke explained that with the new system the dispatchers have interface capabilities with the state’s warrant system and any attempts to serve a warrant including warrants that have been served will be recorded into the RMS and will be kept on file. All the officers are required to do is to call-in to dispatch and give them the location and the time. Warrants that are not electronically generated and are generated in-house the dispatchers would still use the RMS to get the information. He commended Sergeant Stacey Perreira for creating the system which will produce updates every six hours on the status of each individual bench-warrant. The information is accessible to anyone with a MDT or PC with the Spillman application. Chair Hertog asked what about the people who have moved out-of-state or have passed on would KPD provide that information to the state to which Captain Ke explained that in those cases, an officer will inform dispatch who in turn will input the information into the system and the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney will notify the courts. Vice Chair Morita asked if there is a set timeline for warrants to be served to which A/C Ponce replied that warrants that have passed the two-year mark or is viewed as stale would have to be re-filed. Captain Ke noted that the timeline may vary because each individual Judge have their own way of determining how long a warrant should or not remain active. Chief Raybuck commended Captain Ke and Sergeant Perreira for all KPC Regular Open Session Meeting Minutes of November 22, 2019 Page 4 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION their hard work to connect the dots, noting that it wasn’t an easy task to begin with. With no further questions, Chief Raybuck continued on with his quarterly reports.  Matrix Study to evaluate KPD’s staffing levels The previous matrix study was recalled because of inaccurate information. Several attempts were made to have the agency come back to Kaua‘i to do a side by side comparison using the current data and the previous data but those attempts were unsuccessful. In meantime, all of the current information had forwarded to the agency, but no timeline has been set as to when the study will be completed. Ms. Adams asked if the new matrix study is considering using national benchmarks like population base and crime level as a standard measure. Chief Raybuck replied that the benchmarks she mentioned are good, but may not be conducive with Kaua‘i.  Police Apprentice Program The program has been put on hold because of the lack of funding to cover the cost for four apprentice program participants and concerns were brought up about paying tuition for someone who may decide that they do not want to pursue a career in law enforcement once they earned their associate’s degree. Therefore a decision was made to use the money to reimburse KPD employees who have completed their college courses and have earned their associates’ degree.  Type of training/amount of training for retirees who want to return to back service, including lateral transfers from another county or the mainland. Mainland lateral transfers – No efforts have been made to implement a process to receive mainland lateral transfers. Chief Raybuck expressed his concerns about not knowing first hand whether or not the officer coming from another police department on the mainland may have had issues in their previous department. The still issue is still up for consideration. State Lateral transfers – With regard to trainings, although most of KPD’s trainings are standard throughout the state, the Department will take each transfer on a case by case bases by looking at each individual training record to see KPC Regular Open Session Meeting Minutes of November 22, 2019 Page 5 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION what the type of training they received and the trainings that do not reflect KPD’s core training standards. Regardless, all transfers will have to undergo six (6) weeks of field training. Also, unlike the mainland transfers, Chief Raybuck has a good professional working relationship with the other Chiefs he’ll have first-hand knowledge about the officer’s work history.  89 days hires to fill other position (s) in KPD Funding for 89 day hires comes from the Department’s unexpended funds account. Eventually, any hiring process will have to be decreased because according to KPD’s Fiscal Manager, the Department will not have the means to cover the cost of hiring more 89 day hires like it’s done in the past. Currently, the Department has (2) 89 hires working in cellblock and (1) cold case investigator. The 89 day hires is a short fix and focus is to fix the long term problems so the Department has been working aggressively to hire more police officers and as a result the Department should have ten (10) new police officers come January 2020. Mr. Pigao commented that finding creative ways to address the staffing shortage in patrol service would definitely help to alleviate the burden felt by the patrol officers. With regard to the Council short funding the Department. He suggested that the Department approach Council more objectively as to why they should provide more funding to cover the cost for the 89 day hires. Chief Raybuck clarified that the 89 day hires are better utilized in cellblock than in the patrol because it will keep his patrol officers out of cellblock and on the road where their needed the most. Besides, majority of KPD’s 89 day hire contract positions are in support positions like background investigator and vehicle fleet coordinator etc. Mr. Bahouth asked currently how many vacant police officer positions are in the patrol services to which Chief Raybuck replied that to date patrol is down 13 positions and traffic is down 3 positions. Chair Hertog added that the matrix study is find out what areas the officers would be best utilized within the organization. KPC Regular Open Session Meeting Minutes of November 22, 2019 Page 6 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION She asked Chief Raybuck if he’s considering giving the Department’s new staffing model to the company doing the new matrix study. Chief Raybuck stated that the thought never cross his mind and will consider giving the model to the company. To clarify, Chief Raybuck stated that his staffing model would only effect his upper level positions to see if it’s top heavy. It will not affect the areas where his police officers and detectives are assigned too and if he has to reorganize his staffing model at the command level to provide his patrol officers’ relief, he’s willing to do it. Ms. Adams stated that when presenting his staffing model to Mayor Kawakami and members of the County Council, he needs to make it absolutely clear to them that this is the best model for KPD moving forward and that they can’t be nipping away at their budget. Chief Raybuck clarified that Council has been very supportive of the police department by giving them more time to fill their vacant positions and not take away the funding for those positons. Vice Chair Morita asked if ten patrol officers on duty 24/7 is sufficient to which Chief Raybuck replied that he’s relying on the new matrix study to give him the information, but for him personally, ten (10) officers on duty 24/7 is not enough. Mr. Pigao asked Chief Raybuck how many sergeants are running the different bureaus to which Chief Raybuck replied not enough. Mr. Pigao asked Chief Raybuck if he would consider taking his detectives and/or sergeants out of the different bureaus and temporarily place them into patrol to help relief the Acting OIC’s to which Chief Raybuck replied that he appreciates his ideas and is hundred percent open to whatever options that works. Truthfully speaking, he does not support the 89 day hire concept because it’s not a long term solution and it detracts him focusing on the real issue which is to hire more police service officers to fill the vacancies in patrol and because he has to assign his other staff members to take on the responsibility of training the 89 day hires which is very time consuming on their part. Chief’s Monthly Reports/ Announcements and pertinent updates 1. Administrative and Technical Bureau 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 KPC Regular Open Session Meeting Minutes of November 22, 2019 Page 7 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Chief Raybuck gave a recap of the 2019 International of Police Chiefs Conference held in Chicago, Illinois. Among the different workshops the conference provided he and Assistant Chief Bryson Ponce primary focus was on the Officer Resiliency and Wellness Workshop and the Community Transparency and Engagement Workshop. Notable mention was a seminar on computer technology and scheduling software to help KPD manage their resources more efficiently and to move them away from having to use ex-cel spreadsheet program as a data visualization and analysis tool. In addition to his monthly reports, Chief Raybuck highlighted the KPD’s participation with the U.S. Marshalls to locate and apprehend a wanted fugitive and with the Internet Crime against Children Taskforce. Ms. Jardin asked Chief Raybuck if he could brief her fellow Commissioners on what KPD is doing to address the recent threats in the schools. Chief Raybuck stated that first and foremost, KPD takes all threats seriously and will investigate each threat thoroughly and hold the person accountable to the fullest extent it can. However, not all threats are the same and not all responses are the same. There are acts of a threat, imminent threat and non-verifiable threats like finding a note in the bathroom or a text message where someone is threating to shoot up the school. In those cases, the only two options a police department usually takes is to do a full lockdown or do nothing at all. He agrees that each police department and community must develop an effective active shooter response plan; however, if and when it happens doesn’t necessarily mean that every community will encounter an active shooter situation. Which brings him to his next point, that each police department (including KPD) and community must come up with an effective plan to address threats that are randomly made, imminent or non-verifiable because those type of threats happen more frequently than an active shooter. To address that, Chief Raybuck stated that he has tasked Captain Mark Ozaki and Lieutenant Kenneth Cummings to look into every aspect including partnering with the Department of Education and other agencies to come up with an effective strategic/assessment protocol plan to address those type of threats. Chair Hertog thanked Chief Raybuck for providing the information, then she moved to the next item of business. KPC Regular Open Session Meeting Minutes of November 22, 2019 Page 8 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Business KPC 2019-18 Permitted Interaction Group on its findings and recommendations on the requirements of the Rules on Administrative Practice and Procedure for the County of Kauai Police Commission with regard to Charter Section 11.03(C) concerning the receipt, consideration, and investigation of charges brought by the public against the conduct of the department or any of its members. (Deferred on 6/28/2019, 7/26/2019, 8/30/2019, 09/27/2019, 10/25/2019) (a) Discussion and decision-making on a draft Memo of Understanding between the Kaua‘i Police Commission and the Kaua‘i Police Department regarding internal processes and policies related to public complaints and charges. Mr. Ishmael stated that all of the changes the Commission asked for at its last meeting are reflected in the revised MOU. He pointed out that regardless of any changes the Commission decides to make to its current rules, the MOU would remain operable. Also, to address the ninety day (90) timeline the Commission has to report to the Chief of Police, the issue needs to be discussed further and if changes are going to be made the Commission would have to approach the Charter Review Commission to seek the change. Ms. Ching stated that only changes that needs to be made is on the top page three, #5. It should reflect that the complaint shall be considered filed when personally delivered or mailed to the Office of Boards and Commissions rather than to the Administrator and that Staff (Police Commission Support Clerk) not the Administrator, shall note the date and time the complaint was received by the Office of Boards and Commissions. Mr. Ishmael acknowledged Ms. Ching’s request and will make the necessary changes. With no further discussion, Chair Hertog called for a motions to receive the amendments and second motion to accept the MOU as amended. Motion No. 1 Ms. Adams moved to receive the amendments. Vice Chair Morita seconded the motion. The motion carried 7:0. Motion No. 2 Ms. Jardin moved to accept the MOU with the new changes as described by Ms. Ching. Mr. Pigao seconded the motion. The motion carried 7:0. KPC 2019-30 Discussion and decision-making on the possibility of eliminating certain monthly police reports and to scale down on information provided to the Commission by the Investigative Services Bureau. (Deferred on 10/25/19) KPC Regular Open Session Meeting Minutes of November 22, 2019 Page 9 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Chair Hertog stated that at the last meeting, the Commission discussed the type information it would like to eliminate all together and the type of information it wants to see every month. To her understanding the information that the Commission wants to keep are KPD’s Activity Summary Report (based on what the information they submit to the FBI as part of the Uniform Crime Report), Budget Summary, Personnel Status Report (vacancies sworn and non-sworn positions as well as the status KPD’s recruiting efforts), Special Focus Section, General Crimes Section and the Vice Section (any major incident the Commission should have). The information the Commission wanted to eliminate are KPD’s Training Report (types of training and the amount of off-island training), Patrol Services , bench warrant tracking/intake warrant processing, firearms registration/imported, legal services and the report on crime scene and lab unit. She noted that the item will be on the next agenda for final discussion and if there no objections by Commissioners, she is going to call for a motion to accept the changes in the reports. Councilmember Cowden stated that she really likes the quality of information that’s being presented to the Commission every month, so much so that she thinks it would a good idea to have the County Council receive the same information so they can provide their own input. With regard to the Department’s budget, Councilmember Cowden clarified that Council cut $80,460.00 from KPD’s budget for fiscal year 2019/2020 and has since reallocated a portion of the money to violence against women and to the animal shelter. She noted that if KPD needs more money to cover the cost for the 89 day hires or other appropriate expenses like the abandoned vehicles they should come to the County Council to request a money bill. Chair Hertog thanked Chief Raybuck for providing the Commissioners with his new report. She asked if it would be possible for him to present his Crime Statistic Report to the County Council to which Councilmember Cowden replied that she would be more than happy to place the item on the agenda so the community can see all of the good work the Department has been doing and is continuing do. Vice Chair Morita pointed out the Chief’s Monthly Reports are posted online for the public to see. KPC Regular Open Session Meeting Minutes of November 22, 2019 Page 10 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION In response to Councilmember Cowden’s comment about the budget, Chief Raybuck expressed his appreciation for the County Council for allowing KPD to have the flexibility to be able to use the unexpended salaries to purchase new police vehicles to replace the older models. Chair Hertog noted that at 10:44 a.m. Mr. Bahouth had to leave the room for a brief moment. Ms. Ching informed Chair Hertog that if the Commission wants to have a discussion on what information the Commission would like to see every month the Commission should form a permitted interaction group. Chair Hertog replied that she would rather designate two members from the Commission to address the issue since it’s already it’s 90 percent completed. KPC 2019-31 Discussion and decision-making on designating two members of the Commission to work on amending the Police Commission Rules on Administrative Practice and Procedure in accordance to Hawai‘i Revised Statutes 92-2.5 (a). The task will include codifying the way the Kaua‘i Police Commission conducts business, correcting typos and report its recommendations to the full Commission for consideration. Ms. Adams moved to designate Mr. Mince and Chair Hertog to work on amending the Police Commission’s Rules as reflected in the agenda. The motion carried 7:0. KPC 2019-32 Discussion and decision-making on recommendations to revise the Police Commission complaint guidelines for filing a complaint. Ms. Adams moved to revise the Commission’s complaint form guidelines in concert with amending the Commission’s rules. Vice Chair Morita seconded the motion. The motion carried 6:0. Executive Session Items Pursuant to Hawai‘i Revised Statutes §92-4, §92-5 (a) (2) and (4), the purpose of this Executive Session is for the Commission to review and discuss charges brought against an officer or employee in the Kaua‘i Police Department, where consideration of matters affecting privacy will be involved, provided that if the individual requests an open meeting, an open meeting shall be held; and to consult with its attorney on issues pertaining to the Commission’s powers, duties, privileges, immunities, and or liabilities as they may relate to the following agenda items. At 10:47 a.m. Ms. Adams cited the Hawai‘i Revised Statutes to take the meeting into Executive Session. KPC Regular Open Session Meeting Minutes of November 22, 2019 Page 11 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION ES KPC 2019-001 Monthly update by Scott Williamson, Lieutenant, Office of Professional Standards on the status of the Department’s disposition on formal notarized complaints that were filed with the Kaua‘i Police Department, and formal notarized complaints that were filed with the Police Commission and referred to the Office of the Chief for further review. ES KPC 2019-002 Monthly update by Todd G. Raybuck, Chief of Police, Kaua‘i Police Department or his designated representative on any significant adverse incidents/events involving personnel in the Kaua‘i Police Department that could potentially impact the County, the Police Commission and the Kaua‘i Police Department. ES KPC 2019-025 Pursuant to Hawai‘i Revised Statutes §92-4, §92-5 (a) (4), the purpose of this Executive Session is for the Commission to consult with its attorney on questions and issues pertaining to the Commission’s powers, duties, privileges, immunities, and liabilities as it relates to Chief Raybuck’s six (6) Month job performance evaluation review due in November. ES KPC 2019-027 Pursuant to Hawai‘i Revised Statutes §92-4, §92-5 (a)(2), (4), the purpose of this Executive Session is for the Commission to receive a briefing from Deputy County Attorney Mark Ishmael as to the status of a lawsuit that was filed against the County of Kaua‘i, etal by former Police Chief Darryl Perry. ES KPC 2019-028 Pursuant to Hawai‘i Revised Statutes §92-4, §92-5 (a) (4), §92-9 (a) (1-4) and (b), the purpose of this Executive Session is for the Commission to approve or amend the Executive Session meeting minutes of October 25, 2019, and to consult with its attorney on issues pertaining to the Commission’s powers, privileges, immunities, and or liabilities as they may relate to this agenda item. ES KPC 2019-029 Pursuant to Hawai‘i Revised Statutes §92-4, §92-5 (a) (2) and (4), the purpose of this Executive Session is for the Commission to review and discuss charges brought against an officer in the Kaua‘i Police Department, where consideration of matters affecting privacy will be involved, provided that if the individuals requests an open meeting, an open meeting shall be held; and to consult with its attorney on issues pertaining to the Commission’s powers, duties, privileges, immunities, and or liabilities as they may relate to this agenda item. Mr. Mince moved to enter into Executive Session. Ms. Adams seconded the motion. The motion carried 7:0. At 10:51 a.m. the Commissioners entered into Executive Session. KPC Regular Open Session Meeting Minutes of November 22, 2019 Page 12 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION (a) Notarized Complaint No. KPC 2019-007 filed on 11/07/2019. The complainant alleges that an Officer in the Kaua‘i Police Department violated the Legal Notice stating his rights as a Protected Person. Return to Open Session At 12:01 p.m. the Commissioners returned back to Open Session. Chair Hertog called for a motion to ratify the actions taken in Executive Session. Mr. Mince moved to ratify the actions taken in Executive Session for the following items. Ms. Adams seconded the motion. The motion carried 7:0. ES KPC 2019-001: Motion carried 7:0 to receive the OPS Monthly Reports. ES KPC 2019-002: The Commissioners received a briefing by Chief Raybuck. ES KPC 2019-025: Chief Raybuck’s six (6) month performance evaluation is completed. Chair Hertog and Vice Morita will meet with the Chief to present his evaluation. KPC Regular Open Session Meeting Minutes of November 22, 2019 Page 13 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION ES KPC 2019-027: County Attorney Matthew Bracken briefed the Commissioners on the status of the lawsuit filed by former Police Chief Darryl Perry against the County. ES KPC 2019-028: Motion carried 7:0 to approve the Executive Session Minutes of October 25, 2019 as amended. ES KPC 2019-029: Motion carried 7:0 to receive the complaint. Adjournment With no further business to conduct, Chair Hertog called for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Ms. Adams moved to adjourn. Mr. Pigao seconded the motion. The motion carried 7:0. At 12:01 p.m. the meeting adjourned. Submitted by: __________________________________ Reviewed and Approved by: _________________________________________ Mercedes Omo, Staff Support Clerk Mary K. Hertog, Chair (x ) Approved as circulated on January 24, 2020 ( ) Approved as amended. See minutes of the Commission’s _______ meeting.