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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-02-24 PC OPEN SESSION APPROVED MINUTES.pdf OPEN SESSION MEETING MINUTES Board/Commission Kauai Police Commission Meeting Date February 24, 2023 Location Mo’ikeha Building, Meeting Room 2A/2B Start of Meeting: 9:00 a.m. 10:44 a.m. Present Chair Mary K. Hertog; Vice Chair Andrew Bestwick; Commissioners: Gerald Bahouth and Laurie Yoshida. Attendance: Board & Commissions Office Staff: Support Clerk Mercedes Omo; Administrator Ellen Ching; Office of the County Attorney: Deputy County Attorney Chris Donahoe; Police Department: Office of the Chief: Police Chief Todd Raybuck, Executive Operations Manager David Carmichael; Office of Professional Standards Sergeant Kristopher Breyer; Investigative Services Bureau Assistant Chief Bryson Ponce and Captain Paul Applegate; General Crimes Section Lieutenant Anthony J. Morita and Detective Aaron Lester; Special Focus Section Lieutenant Kennison Nagahisa; Patrol Services Bureau Assistant Chief Elliott Ke and Captain Roderick Green; Līhu‘e District Commander Darren Rose; Hanalei District Commander Stacey Perreira. Also present: Councilmember Felica Cowden and SHOPO Business Agent Roy Asher. Excused Commissioner Monica Belz Absent SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Call to order/ Roll Call to Ascertain Quorum With a quorum present, Chair Hertog called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. Approval of Agenda Chair Hertog asked for a motion to approve the agenda. Commissioner Yoshida moved. Vice Chair Bestwick seconded the motion. Hearing no objections, the agenda was approved. Announcements Next Regular Monthly Meeting 9:00 a.m. Friday, March 24, 2023. Executive to follow. Subject to change. KPC Open Session Minutes Of February 24, 202, Meeting Page 2 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Public Testimony on any agenda items Chair Hertog asked for testifiers on any of the items listed on the agenda. There was no testimony from anyone in the audience. Approval of Open Session Minutes Chair Hertog asked for a motion to approve or amend the minutes of the January 27, 2023 meeting. Vice Chair Bestwick moved to approve the minutes of the January 27, 2022 meeting. Commissioner Yoshida seconded the motion. Hearing no objections, the minutes were approved. Chief’s Monthly Reports • Administrative and Technical Bureau • Investigative Services Bureau • Patrol Service Bureau • Chief’s Office ▪ Community Outreach Chair Hertog asked for testifiers for the Chief’s Monthly Reports. There being no testimony from anyone in the audience, Chair Hertog called on Chief Raybuck to address his Monthly Reports. There being no questions from the Commissioners, Chief Raybuck expressed his appreciation for the Kauai Fire Department, the Kauai Search and Rescue Team and state partners for aiding the Police Department in their search for homicide suspect Kody Gardner on the remote area of Koke`e. He especially acknowledged Assistant Chief Bryson Ponce and Captain Paul Applegate of the Investigative Services Bureau for taking the lead on this multiagency search effort. KPC Open Session Minutes Of February 24, 202, Meeting Page 3 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Chief Raybuck, in response to Vice Chair Bestwick’s questioning, responded that the Investigative Services Bureau immediately established a command post to monitor not only the crime scene but to locate the suspect, and without going into details early in the investigation it became apparent to ISB that the male subject did not pose a threat to anyone in the community. Securing the area in Koke`e where the suspect was presumed to be at was DOCARE law enforcement officers. KPC 2022-25 Discussion and decision-making on defining the Climate Assessment Group scope and report all resulting findings and recommendations at the Commission’s second meeting, then at the Commission’s third meeting deliberate and decide on those recommendations. (Deferred on January 27, 2023) Chair Hertog asked for public testimony on item KPC 2022-25. There was no testimony from anyone in the audience. Chair Hertog stated that the permitted interaction group consist of Commissioner Belz and Vice Chair Bestwick. Vice Chair Bestwick stated that he strongly supports having a baseline climate assessment followed by yearly assessments. He stated that the Office of Boards and Commissions Administrator Ellen Ching worked on getting quotes and a budget to cover the cost to have Gallup conduct an employee engagement survey. He pointed out that because the information from the two (2) prior climate assessments that were done by the Police Commission and SHOPO were valuable if the Commission wants to continue down the same path would be an important component of the Department and the people involved to be able to express how they feel about their work environment. Vice Chair Bestwick stated that the PIG is still in its evaluation phase to try to figure out what questions and timeline are going to look like. He then called on Administrator Ching to provide input on the process. KPC Open Session Minutes Of February 24, 202, Meeting Page 4 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Ms. Ching stated that she received a proposal from Gallup and if the Commissioners agree with PIG’s recommendation she will reach out to Gallup and invite them to do a presentation at the Commission’s March meeting. She reminded the Commissioners that this is just a recommendation, and any decision-making should be made at the Commission’s next meeting. She also noted that she took the liberty of putting in a line item in her budget to cover the cost for Gallup but whether the budget gets approved or not is a different subject matter. Chair Hertog called for a motion to receive the memorandum dated January 31, 2023 from Commissioners Monica Belz and Andrew Bestwick. After the motion was passed, Chair Hertog gave a recap of the PIG’s recommendation on conducting a climate assessment under the following conditions: 1) That the Commission hire a consultant specializing in climate assessments to design, deploy, collect, and analyze the results and provide a final report to the Commission; 2) The assessment be conducted annually; and 3) The Commission commit to do an assessment for a minimum of three (3) years. Chair Hertog reminded the Commissioner’s that it is just recommendations and the decision- making should be made at the Commission’s March meeting. Ms. Ching, in response to Commissioner Bahouth’s questioning, responded that if the request for $187,000 is not granted the Police Commission will be back to square one. She noted that the initial cost to design and implement the survey is going to cost $87,000. Commissioner Bahouth noted that if his calculations are correct it’s going to cost $50,000 a year thereafter, to which Ms. Ching responded that is correct. Ms. Ching, in response to Commissioner Bahouth’s questioning, explained that under the current Administration department heads are required to submit their budget proposals to the Administration. The mayor and his budget staff, in turn, they will meet with the individual Motion Commissioner Yoshida moved to receive the memorandum dated January 31, 2023 from Commissioners Belz and Bestwick. Commissioner Bahouth seconded the motion. Hearing no objections, the motion carried 4:0. KPC Open Session Minutes Of February 24, 202, Meeting Page 5 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION department heads to go over their proposed budget, once that process is completed the mayor will submit his annual fiscal year budget to the Council for review, deliberation, and making preliminary decisions followed by departmental budget reviews in March where each department head would provide council with additional information and answer any questions relative to their budget. She further explained that although the budget is approved for one year through the procurement process she is able to do a multi-year contract with Gallup. Chair Hertog clarified that at the next meeting the decision and decision-making on the PIG’s recommendations will be made at the Commission’s March meeting. KPC 2022-30 Discussion and decision-making on conducting an audit on the Kauai Police Department which may include discussion and decision-making to establish a permitted interaction group consisting of two or more members of the Commission, but less than the number of members which would constitute a quorum and defining the group’s scope of work which may include: (Deferred to the March 24, 2023 meeting; request the Matrix Study from Chief Raybuck for the Commissioners to review, then continue discussion and decision-making at the Commission’s March meeting.) 1. Decide the process to have an audit performed. 2. Define the scope of the audit. 3. Draft any and all documents related to items #1 and #2. Chair Hertog asked for testifiers. There was no testimony from anyone in the audience. Chair Hertog reminded the Commissioners that at the last Police Commission meeting, the item was deferred to the Commission’s March 24, 2023 meeting because the Commission requested a copy of the Matrix Study that was done server years ago which was given to all of the Commissioners to review, followed by discussion and decision-making at the Commission’s March meeting. She encouraged the Commissioners to read the Matrix Study and that Chief Raybuck will be providing his executive summary at the Commission’s March meeting. KPC Open Session Minutes Of February 24, 202, Meeting Page 6 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Commissioner Bahouth mentioned that at the March meeting when Chief Raybuck provides his summary the summary would reflect information on what has taken place in KPD since the Matrix Study was done. With no further discussion, Chair Hertog moved on to item KPC 2023-2. KPC 2023-2 Discussion and decision-making on conducting a six-month performance evaluation on Police Chief Todd Raybuck and to establish a permitted interaction group consisting of one to three members of the Commission, but less than the number of members which would constitute a quorum to draft a Consolidated Report on Police Chief Todd Raybuck 6-month performance evaluation for the period of July 1, 2022 through December 31, 2022. (Deferred on January 27, 2023) Chair Hertog asked for testifiers. There was no testimony from anyone in the audience. Chair Hertog stated that the bottom line is the Commission is late in getting Chief Raybuck’s A 6-month performance evaluation was done therefore she would like the three (3) Commissioners to complete their evaluation and send it to staff by 10 March. She asked for a motion to that effect. Chair Hertog asked for a motion to designate Commissioner Bahouth and Boards and Commissions Administrator Ellen Ching to work on the Consolidated Report for presentation to Chief Raybuck. With no further discussion, Chair Hertog moved on to item KPC 2023-9. Motion No. 1 Vice Chair Bestwick moved to complete and send Chief Raybuck’s 6-month performance evaluation to staff by 10 March. Commissioner Yoshida seconded the motion. Hearing no objections, the motion carried 4:0. Motion No. 2 Commissioner Yoshida moved to designate Commissioner Bahouth and Boards and Commissions Administrator Ellen Ching to work on the Consolidated Report for presentation to Chief Raybuck. Vice Chair Bestwick seconded the motion. Hearing no objections, the motion carried 4:0. KPC Open Session Minutes Of February 24, 202, Meeting Page 7 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION KPC 2023-9 Discussion and decision-making on establishing a permitted interaction group consisting of one to three members of the Commission, but less than the number of members which would constitute a quorum to draft recommendations regarding the process, procedures, and tools to enhance the chief of police evaluation process in a more cohesive evaluation product. Chair Hertog asked for testifiers. There was no testimony from anyone in the audience. Chair Hertog stated that last year a three-member Permitted Interaction Group was formed to make recommendations on changing the evaluation format; however, being that Commissioners Roy Morita and Dean Pigao are no longer members of the Police Commission the proper thing to do is to form a new permitted interaction group consisting of current members. Chair Hertog asked for a motion to establish a Permitted Interaction Group. Chair Hertog asked for volunteers. Commissioners Andrew Bestwick, Laurie Yoshida, and Chair Hertog volunteered to serve on the PIG. With no further discussion, Chair Hertog moved on to item KPC 2023-7. Motion No. 1 Vice Chair Bestwick moved to establish a Permitted Interaction Group to draft recommendations regarding the process, procedures, and tools to enhance the chief of police evaluation process in a more cohesive evaluation product. Commissioner Yoshida seconded the motion. Hearing no objections, the motion carried 4:0. Motion No. 2 Commissioner Bahouth moved to name Commissioners Andrew Bestwick, Laurie Yoshida, and Chair Hertog to serve on the PIG. Chair Hertog seconded the motion. Hearing no objections, the motion carried 4:0. KPC 2023-7 Discussion and decision-making on deciding the priority and order of work of the permitted interactions groups. (Deferred on January 27, 2023) Chair Hertog asked for testifiers. There was no testimony from anyone in the audience. KPC Open Session Minutes Of February 24, 202, Meeting Page 8 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Chair Hertog stated that the bottom line is because the Commission have already formed two Permitted Interaction Groups and is on the path of forming a third permitted interaction group, it would be appropriate to create a priority list based on which item the Commission needs to get done first. Ms. Ching pointed out that being that the work of the Climate Assessment Permitted Interaction Group will be completed by the Commission’s next meeting it shouldn’t be an issue, and unless the Commission wants to form a PIG to work on the audit today, it would make sense to create a priority list consisting of the remaining two (2) other PIG’s. Chair Hertog stated that being that the Commission is not ready to decide whether it wants to form an Audit PIG or not she would like to defer the item to the Commission’s March meeting. With no further discussion, Chair Hertog moved on to item KPC 2023-10. Commissioner Yoshida moved to defer item KPC 2023-7 to the Commission’s next meeting in March. Vice Chair Bestwick seconded the motion. Hearing no objections, the motion carried 4:0. KPC 2023-10 Report by the permitted interaction group consisting of Chair Mary K. Hertog and Commissioner Laurie Yoshida on recommendations to the Kauai Police Commission Rules and Administrative Practice and Procedure. Chair Hertog asked for testifiers. There was no testimony from anyone in the audience. Chair Hertog reported that the now that PIG has received feedback from Ms. Ching and Deputy County Attorney Donahoe staff will set up a meeting in March with members of the PIG and Ms. Ching and Mr. Donahoe to make the necessary changes before the PIG makes its presentation to the full Commission. KPC Open Session Minutes Of February 24, 202, Meeting Page 9 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION Commissioner Bahouth stated that correct him if he’s wrong but it was his understanding that the only rule that needed to be looked at by Mr. Donahoe was Rule 11. He noted that the rule process has been going on for three to four years now and he really wants to get the rules done and not start to square one. Chair Hertog stated that several suggestions that were made were valid and would be considered. The PIG’s goal is not to take only the rules that have been changed from the last Ramseyer version; not all of them. Deputy County Attorney Donahoe stated that several minor tweaks and additions were made. Substantively, the new proposals that were made would not have any effect on the overall changes that have been made to the rules prior. Regarding Rule 11, the proposed revisions were minor then he thought they would be. Regarding Rule 5 Contested Cases multiple proposed substantive changes were made based on the discussions he had with the other counties. Their goal is to make the rules on contested cases by covering as many scenarios or issues that may come up in contested cases and have it contained in the Commission’s rules on how to handle those scenarios, secondly, make it consist with the other counties Police Commissions. With no further discussion, Chair Hertog noted that the item will be on the next agenda for continued discussion. KPC 2023-11 Public Announcement on the Police Commission’s disposition as it relates to formal notarized citizen complaint KPC 2022-016. Chair Hertog asked for testifiers. There was no testimony from anyone in the audience. Chair Hertog read the public announcement into the record. KPC Open Session Minutes Of February 24, 202, Meeting Page 10 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION The Kauai Police Commission has completed its review of notarized complaint KPC 2022-016. The complainant alleges that he was morally, physically, and verbally attacked and everything he own was destroyed. After reviewing all available information, there was no supporting evidence to sustain that any act of misconduct or violations occurred relative to the complaint. Therefore, the officer named in the complaint was exonerated. This officially concluded the Commission’s review of notarized complaint KPC 2022-016. Executive Session By 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 Kauai 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 liabilities as they may relate these items: At 9:26 a.m. Chair Hertog asked Deputy County Attorney Chris Donahoe to read the Hawai‘i Revised Statutes to take the meeting into Executive Session. ES KPC 2023-1 Monthly update by Police Chief Todd Raybuck or his designated representative regarding the Office of Professional Standards Monthly Report on the status and or disposition of formal notarized citizen complaints that were filed with the Kauai Police Department and the Kauai Police Commission and referred to the Office of the Chief for further review. ES KPC 2022-34 Notarized complaint KPC 2022-012, dated October 4, 2022. The complainant alleges that an officer in the Kauai Police Department violated Article III, Article VI.B4, and Article VI.C12 of the Standards of Conduct by ordering the complainant to meet the officer at the police station so that the officer could serve the complainant with a Temporary Restraining Order (“TRO”) for his sister. (Referred to an outside investigator) ES KPC 2022-35 Discussion and decision-making on rescinding a motion that was previously adopted by the Police Commission at its January 27, 2023 meeting, on notarized citizen complaint KPC 2022-014, received on December 5, 2022, filed against an officer in the Kauai Police Department. The complainant alleges misconduct, intimidation, condescending, blaming, profiling, bias, breach of confidentiality, and ambiguity and errors in the Investigation Report.(Referred to the Office of Professional Standards to investigate and report back to the Commission.) KPC Open Session Minutes Of February 24, 202, Meeting Page 11 SUBJECT DISCUSSION ACTION ES KPC 2023-4 Monthly update by Police Chief Todd Raybuck 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 KPC 2023-5 Per 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 concerning the Commission’s powers, duties, immunities, privileges, and liabilities as they may relate to the Kauai County Police Commission Administrative Rules of Practice and Procedure. ES KPC 2023-7 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 regular executive session minutes of January 27, meeting. Where consideration of matters affecting privacy will be involved and to consult with its Attorney on issues pertaining to the Commission’s powers, duties, privileges, immunities, and liabilities as they may relate to this item. Chair Hertog asked for testifiers on any of the items listed under the Executive Session. There was no testimony from anyone in the audience. Chair Hertog asked for motion to enter Executive Session. Commissioner Bahouth moved. Vice Chair Bestwick seconded the motion. Hearing no objections, the motion carried 4:0. At 9:26 a.m. the Commissioners entered Executive Session. Ratify the Actions taken in Executive Session/ Adjournment At 10:43 a.m. the Commissioners reconvened in Open Session. Chair Hertog called for a motion to ratify the actions taken in Executive Session. There being no further business, Chair Hertog called for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Yoshida moved. Vice Chair Bestwick seconded the motion. Hearing no objections, the motion carried 4:0. Commissioner Yoshida moved. Vice Chair Bestwick seconded the motion. Hearing no objections, the meeting adjourned at 10:44 a.m. KPC Open Session Minutes Of February 24, 202, Meeting Page 12 Submitted by: __________________________________ Reviewed and Approved by: _________________________________________ Mercedes Omo, Staff Support Clerk Mary K. Hertog , Chair (x) Approved as circulated on February 24, 2023 ( ) Approved as amended. See minutes of ___________ meeting.