REPORT TITLE:
Harassment of Police Officers.


DESCRIPTION:
The Hawaii courts have excluded police officers from being the
victims of verbal harassment.  This bill would reverse that
result and clearly establish that police officers are entitled to
protection from unwarranted verbal abuse.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.956        
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________


                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO HARASSMENT. 


BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  Hawaii case law has, in effect, excluded police
 
 2 officers from being  victims of verbal harassment.  The
 
 3 Legislature believes that police officers as individuals, and
 
 4 especially as symbols of authority in our society, are entitled
 
 5 to be protected from unwarranted verbal abuse.  This section is
 
 6 being amended to clearly show that the test of harassment uses an
 
 7 objective, reasonable person standard, and not a subjective one. 
 
 8      SECTION 2.  Section 711-1106, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 9 amended to read as follows:
 
10      §711-1106  Harassment.(1)  A person commits the offense of
 
11 harassment if, with intent to harass, annoy, or alarm any other
 
12 person, that person:
 
13      (a)  Strikes, shoves, kicks, or otherwise touches another
 
14           person in an offensive manner or subjects the other
 
15           person to offensive physical contact;
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Page 2                                                     
                                     H.B. NO.956        
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      (b)  Insults, taunts, or challenges another person in a
 
 2           manner likely to provoke an immediate violent response
 
 3           from a reasonable person or that would cause [the
 
 4           other] a reasonable person to [reasonably] believe that
 
 5           the actor intends to cause bodily injury to the
 
 6           recipient or another or damage to the property of the
 
 7           recipient or another;
 
 8      (c)  Repeatedly makes telephone calls, facsimile, or
 
 9           electronic mail transmissions without purpose of
 
10           legitimate communication;
 
11      (d)  Repeatedly makes a communication anonymously or at an
 
12           extremely inconvenient hour;
 
13      (e)  Repeatedly makes communications, after being advised by
 
14           the person to whom the communication is directed that
 
15           further communication is unwelcome; or
 
16      (f)  Makes a communication using offensively coarse language
 
17           that would cause the recipient to reasonably believe
 
18           that the actor intends to cause bodily injury to the
 
19           recipient or another or damage to the property of the
 
20           recipient or another.
 
21      (2)  Harassment is a petty misdemeanor. [L 1972, c 9, pt of
 
22 §1; am L 1973, c 136, §9(b); am L 1992, c 292, §4; am L 1996, c
 
23 245, §2]
 

 
Page 3                                                     
                                     H.B. NO.956        
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
 2 New statutory material is underscored.
 
 3      SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
 4 
 
 5                           INTRODUCED BY:  _______________________