STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2078

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2324

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2324 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO POLICE COMMISSIONS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to amend the composition of county police commissions to require that there are commissioners on each commission who have experience or backgrounds in women's issues, civil rights, and law enforcement.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Remington College Criminal Justice, and sixteen individuals.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General.

     Your Committee finds that certain high-profile incidents involving law enforcement officers in Hawaii have generated concern about the way police departments in the State handle domestic violence cases.  The conduct of police officers is overseen by the county police commissions.  Amending the composition of police commissions to include commissioners with backgrounds in women's issues, civil rights, and law enforcement will improve the manner in which the commissions respond to domestic violence concerns within the police departments.  Although your Committee recognizes that this issue is important and a matter of public concern, this measure requires further discussion and consideration.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2324, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2324, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs,

________________________________

CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair