STAND. COM. REP. 1674
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2003
RE: S.B. No. 1275
Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twenty-Second State Legislature
Regular Session of 2003
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 1275 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ASSAULT AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this bill is to:
(1) Create a class C offense for first-degree assault on law enforcement officers;
(2) Create a misdemeanor offense for second-degree assault on law enforcement officers; and
(3) Expand the scope to cover other law enforcement officers in addition to police officers.
The State Attorney General, Department of Public Safety, City and County of Honolulu Police Department, City and County of Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney, County of Maui Prosecuting Attorney, County of Hawaii Police Department, Maui County Councilman Robert Carroll, County of Kauai Police Department, County of Maui Police Department, and State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers testified in support of the bill. The Office of the Public Defender opposed the measure.
Your Committee finds that this measure expands the protected class from "police officer" to "law enforcement officer." Despite objections that this protected class is overbroad, there is a continuing and persistent demand to include any public servant that may in some way be involved in enforcement of criminal laws, no matter how incidental.
Your Committee further finds that this measure increases the present penalty for assault against a police officer to five years imprisonment or five years of probation with a mandatory thirty days imprisonment. The justification for this is that police officers are vulnerable public servants needing special protection from the hazards of their profession.
This perception persists despite the fact that "police officers are trained and employed to bear the burden of hazardous situations, and it is not infrequent that private citizens have arguments with them." (HRS §711-1101, Commentary) Further, this perception lingers even though the Legislature has expressed in the past:
"Your Committee will not seek to explain in this report its rationale for the creation of special categories of assaults against correctional workers and teachers. Your Committee notes its generally steadfast aversion to creating special classes of persons receiving greater protection under the laws than others. Police officers, more than most citizens, are trained and equipped to handle violent situations, and because assaults against police officers typically occur in the heat of the moment with little regard for the consequences, there remains room to doubt whether this measure will have the deterrent effect intended. Yet, changing times require changing views, and in this instance it appears that police officers, and society in general, may benefit from a measure imposing minimum penalties for assaulting police officers, which penalties may offer some additional measure of protection in what is admittedly a hazardous profession. (House Journal 1990, SCRep.1203-90 on SB 1146)"
Accordingly, your Committee agrees that this measure embodies a shift in policy consideration and that the time may be ripe for considering this measure.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1275 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,
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____________________________ ERIC G. HAMAKAWA, Chair |
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