STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2181

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2427

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2427 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) Create a temporary law enforcement working group to make recommendations to the Legislature on establishing professional recruitment, hiring, and training standards for all state law enforcement officers who carry firearms and badges and who have arrest authority; and

(2) Prohibit a law enforcement officer who has been terminated for misconduct by a state or county department, agency, or office in the capacity of law enforcement from being hired by another state or county law enforcement department, agency, or office.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Public Safety, Department of Transportation, and one individual. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Taxation, Department of Land and Natural Resources, and one individual.

Your Committee finds that maintaining a force of properly qualified law enforcement officers is essential to protecting the health, safety, and welfare of the public. Currently, there are no existing statewide standards for recruiting, hiring, and training law enforcement personnel across state agencies, making Hawaii one of the few states lacking in such statewide standards. A clear set of statewide standards for recruiting, hiring, and training law enforcement personnel would not only establish consistency and lead to improvements within the system, but it would provide the additional benefits of saving costs and streamlining operations. Therefore, in order to implement the highest quality statewide standards, this measure creates a temporary law enforcement working group to make recommendations to the Legislature on the appropriate professional recruitment, hiring, and training standards to adopt for all state law enforcement officers. Further, this measure immediately strengthens the hiring process for state law enforcement officers by prohibiting the hiring by one department, agency, or office of an officer who has been terminated for misconduct by another state or county department, agency, or office in the capacity of law enforcement.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Replacing the State Sheriff or the Sheriff's designee with the Director of Public Safety or the Director's designee on the proposed law enforcement working group;

(2) Adding the Chief of Police of each county police department or the Chief's designee as members of the proposed law enforcement working group; and

(3) 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. 2427, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2427, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

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

________________________________

CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair