By TOM CALLIS
By TOM CALLIS
Tribune-Herald staff writer
Spending has not kept up with increasing demands on police and criminal prosecution, Hawaii County Council members were told Thursday.
Mitch Roth, the county’s head prosecutor, and police Chief Harry Kubojiri, both urged the council to fulfill their supplemental budget requests to help their departments regain ground lost due to cutbacks or simply keep up with the demands for service.
They were among several department heads who spoke to the council during ongoing budget talks about their staffing and equipment needs.
Roth made the most impassioned plea for additional funding, saying his 32 deputy prosecutors are working so much overtime they are at risk of “burning out.”
“You can go by any weekend, any night and you can see people working there,” he said.
“I hate to be begging for money, but without these vital funds, the bottleneck of the justice system can result in cases being delayed and worse, cases getting dismissed,” Roth later added.
Roth is requesting another three deputy prosecutors to handle the continued rise in criminal cases.
That could come with a price tag of nearly $267,000 including benefits.
He’s also requesting funding for two clerical positions that could cost about $60,000 together.
Council member Zendo Kern said the council will need to look at how much it will cost to run the county efficiently.
“The common theme is no one has enough money,” he said.
“I commend the work you guys do with the amount of cases and the amount of prosecutors you have,” Kern added, referring to Roth.
“Hang in there. We will do our very best for you guys.”
Kubojiri also asked for funding for new positions.
His supplemental request totals $2.24 million, and includes 24 non-administrative positions, among other items.
Many of those positions are either patrol officers or detectives, which Kubojiri said are stretched thin.
“We have the same number of officers we have had for awhile,” he said. “It’s just that the number of calls are increasing.
“We can no longer do proactive policing.
“It’s all reacting; it’s jumping from one call to the next.”
The request includes the following:
— Puna: two sergeants, three patrol officers.
Calls per officer in this fast-growing district have increased from 456 in 2004 to 689 in 2012.
— South Hilo: one sergeant, two patrol officers.
Calls here have grown from 557 per officer in 2004 to 962 in 2012.
— South Kohala: two patrol officers.
Calls in this district have increased from 324 per officer in 2004 to 510 in 2012.
— Kona: one sergeant, two patrol officers, one firearms clerk.
Calls per officer here have actually decreased since 2004, from 633 to 599.
— Ka‘u: five patrol officers.
Kubojiri is also requesting funding for four more detectives, an evidence specialist, five administrative positions, as well as additional equipment upgrades or purchases.
Both Roth and Kubojiri requested funding for new computers, noting that some of their staff are using equipment up to 10 years old.
The need for new computers was also stressed by Mark Ow, county information technology director.
“There’s a lot of things we can do but we’re held captive by maintaining the existing things that we have,” he said.
Whether any of the additional funding requests will be approved, and if so, where the money would come from, remains to be seen.
Mayor Billy Kenoi has proposed a budget of $370.8 million.
He suggested Wednesday that tax hikes may be needed, though council members didn’t seem ready to embrace any raises yet.
The council will continue its budget discussions at 9 a.m. today in the Hilo council chambers.
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.