STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2243

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2412

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 2412 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO POLICE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to require each police commission to ensure that all full-time police officers receive crisis intervention training related to interaction with persons with mental disabilities.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health; Ho‘omana Pono, LLC; and three individuals.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Hawaii Disability Rights Center.

     Your Committees find that the duties of police officers sometimes bring them into contact with persons with mental disabilities and homeless persons during crises or emergency situations.  Such interactions require specialized techniques and approaches, and certain procedures employed by officers can exacerbate the situation and create risks to the safety of the officer and the public.  Your Committees find that policies and training programs should be established to prepare officers for these situations.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by adding language to require each police commission to also establish policies relating to interactions between officers and persons with mental disabilities or homeless persons and for the mandatory crisis intervention training to be consistent with the policies.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2412, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2412, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health,

________________________________ ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair

________________________________ CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair