Manpower – Comments
Solutions 2003 - May 17, 2003
- Relative to your stated goals your missing maximizing the resource available in community involvement. Should be 30%+ and establish the reserves now. Objectives/Goals:
Increase police manpower/staffing to population ratio in Hawaii by 5 percent.
Increase/sustain Neighborhood/Business Watch groups by 5 percent.
Create/increase volunteer programs to aid police.
- Train / rehab unfit judges to support cpo policy!
Enforcement of existing laws in the community should become a #1 priority!
E.G.: Illegal businesses and industrial activities within the community create much noise, pollution and a general loss of quality of life in the community.
Automotive repair shops; engine & transmission rebuilding with the associated dumping of old engine/transmission oils along fence lines and in illegal injection wells; grinding, sandblasting and painting of large dump trucks with the noise of air compressors and other industrial power tools; plus lots of etc! CPO's know all about these violators but do nothing! No consequences, no change in behavior!!!
- Prevention of crimes rather than 'catching people in the act'
Police need to be visible in areas where people either commit crimes or gather prior to committing crimes, therefore 'preventing' the crimes BEFORE they occur. Police should NOT gather in a convenient spot to set-up a seatbelt check or the like, just because it is any easy area to hold the check. If the police do seatbelt, DUI, type checks they should be done in problem areas.
- Increase enforcement
- Property crimes
- WIN THE DRUG WAR BY TAKING OUT ITS PROFIT
From 1919 to 1930, the number of hard liquor drinkers increased by 300% with the price of a fifth of whiskey increasing during that same period from 40 cents to 5 dollars. that would be 100 dollars in today's money(Reason Foundation study on prohibition). The Mafia went from rags to riches during this period and quit selling liquor when the Volstead act was repealed because it was no longer profitable. The speak easies disappeared, the number of hard liquor drinkers was cut in half, and the number of people dying from or going blind from bad liquor went from epidemic to non existent. Basement stills once common became nonexistent and alcoholism again became a medical problem for doctors and clinics.
You want to stop the ice market?
Take the profit out of it and deal with its addicts from a medical standpoint. if decriminalized, in a few years it'll be virtually non existent. Learn from prohibition!!
I will gladly lecture on this subject using the congressional record, the new england journal of medicine, the journal of the American medical association, newspaper morgues, think tank analysis et.al.
I was a radio talk show host in Honolulu for ten years and am a conservative republican.
- There was an active APB on my stolen boat trailer for nearly a year. When a lady tried to report it, she was asked for the case number and responsible officer's name at two departments. Not knowing these - she was told, by police, that they couldn't help her. She was "blown off" by two departments and crime stoppers! Finally, she mentioned it to a local Marine repair company who knew me and the stolen trailer. I called the police and complained for two weeks - then finally told them I was going to go get my trailer - that is the only time the police got back to me to "take control of the situation." This is a shame.
This is just one example of how communication between officers and departments must be corrected - the civilians aren't the ones that are supposed to solve the crime and keep all of the paperwork!
Perhaps I only know this end of the story - but my wife is plagued with the same type of response when she calls for help at Borders for shoplifters, people breaking into secure doors (with video camera) and low-life's that are trespassing. The civilians aren't the ones that are supposed to solve the crime and keep all of the paperwork!
Perhaps I only know this end of the story - but my wife is plagued with the same type of response when she calls for help at Borders for shoplifters, people breaking into secure doors (with video camera) and low-life's that are trespassing.
- Good survey...hope it gets presented to the County Council
- Create policies that attack the source, dealers, together with community resources where underage citizens can obtain CONFIDENTIAL assistance
- #1Aanswer the calls!! not ignoring them for hours as was done when we called for help after being assaulted (have staff to do so)#2 change the attitude by hiring or training better officers#3 buy the tools and train officer to investigate crimes - fingerprint checks should not take 90 days!
most of the officers we have met are wonderful hard working and honest people. some however should not be wearing a badge since they seem to not want to respond to calls or bother with investigating a crime site. Maybe it is a matter if just not knowing how to do the job and then it is our fault as a community for letting these "officers" out on the street without the training or support. Again most of the officers we have met in 10 years are great but we need more of them and more tools & training for them.
- The item above is not useful for me. The top priorities I see are (1) vandalism and theft, (2) assaults on our visitors, and (3) keeping public parks and facilities free of attacks and hassles.
- Legislature needs to change the law/definition about possession of "Ice." Currently all HPD can do is arrest a person if they find the drug on their possession. To me, possession also means in them (consumed)...like when they show up in the ER and test positive for "Ice." The term possession should encompass on the person and in the person. Intoxicated people have their ETOH level reported, why not "Ice?" To this end, the confidentiality of illegal substance should have no bearing. Why are we protecting the "Ice" users and not the alcoholics, which is a legal substance? Which also opens another can of worms about where to house them...drug court or mandatory SA Treatment! I've heard that it's easier obtaining drugs in jail than out, so these criminals don't mind returning to jail.
- Increase Patrol Officers:
1. More patrol officers are needed to release CPO's to do their work in the communities.
2. Officers should be able to arrest anyone selling drug paraphernalia. Present laws in Hawaii
do not permit it.
3. The number of officers in any district is based only on the population of the district. The district of Ka'u is larger than the island of Maui and has only 2 to 3 officers on duty at any time.
This results in response times close to an hour if the officers are in Pahala when a call comes in from Ocean View. The number of officers for a district must be based on a formula that includes population and size (response time) in a district.
- Police working on crime not traffic control
- illegal cars/trucks, i.e.: loud mufflers, no insurance, no safety checks.
- HPD should address allocation of positions- Honoka'a seems to have too many, while other areas have too few. And why do 90+% of them go off duty in the afternoon?
- A working relationship between community (neighborhood watch) and police
- Ice problem is foremost
- The majority of police I encounter do an excellent job. More emphasis in needed to shut down all 'ice' dealers.
I would like to see police paid more, so they don't have to direct traffic at construction sites. On the mainland this is done by female construction workers etc. and is not considered a high status job. It demeans our police force to be doing this on their off hours. I would rather they be looking after their own families.
- The major problem I see with HPD is the lack of active and effective manpower due to sick leave, temporary disability, etc.; i.e., officers carried on the books but unable to serve on patrol. Staffing levels should be adequate to cover these "vacancies."
- Youth Drug Rehabilitation Center
- I feel that we need to have better public/government awareness of Domestic Violence. It is especially impacted because of the "Ice" epidemic. The violence increases automatically when a TRO is written and especially where "Ice" is involved. 98% of our DV and Child Abuse cases involve drug abuse. Patti Barry
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