STAND. COM. REP. NO. 221

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 497

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 497 entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to repeal the privacy exemption within the Uniform Information Practices Act for county police department officers.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Information Practices, Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, League of Women Voters, Domestic Violence Action Center, Civil Beat Law Center for the Public Interest, Society of Professional Journalists, Hawaii State Democratic Women's Caucus, Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Common Cause Hawaii, and three individuals.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers.

     Your Committee finds that the Honolulu Police Department has been heavily criticized by lawmakers and the public in the wake of a recent high-profile domestic violence incident involving an off-duty Honolulu Police Department sergeant and his then-girlfriend.  The sergeant's actions sparked concern about the way the police departments handle domestic violence cases and public accountability for police officers.  While other government employees' misconduct information becomes accessible by the public if the misconduct results in the employee's suspension or discharge, existing law provides a privacy exemption within the Uniform Information Practices Act for county police officers.  Implementation of this measure will increase accountability of police officers whose misconduct results in suspension or discharge and ensure that police officers are held to the same standards as other government employees.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     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. 497, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 497, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

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

____________________________

WILL ESPERO, Chair