STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3329

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 1812

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred H.B. No. 1812, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO LAW ENFORCEMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Require the chief of each county police department to submit an annual report to the Legislature by January 31 covering misconduct incidents that resulted in suspension or discharge of a police officer from the calendar year immediately prior to the year of the report submission;

     (2)  Specify the information that each report must contain, including updated information from previous reports;

     (3)  Require the chief of each county police department to provide updated information in each successive annual report until the highest non-judicial grievance adjustment procedure invoked by the police officer has concluded and specify the information that each successive annual report must contain; and

     (4)  Require the county police departments to retain the disciplinary records in accordance with their respective record retention policies or for at least eighteen months after the final report concerning that incident, whichever period is longer.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Information Practices and The Civil Beat Law Center for the Public Interest.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Police Department, City and County of Honolulu; Police Department, County of Maui; State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers; and one individual.

     Your Committee finds that for over a decade, the only public information available concerning final suspensions of police officers has been the annual report to the Legislature, required by section 52D-3.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes; however, these reports provide minimal detail.  This measure improves the applicability of section 52D-3.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and creates a more informed public dialogue about the misconduct by police officers.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1812, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary and Labor,

____________________________

CLAYTON HEE, Chair