STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3124

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 2748

H.D. 2

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs and Transportation and Culture and the Arts, to which was referred H.B. No. 2748, H.D. 2, entitled:

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

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish statewide vehicular law enforcement pursuit policies.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Policing Project, and one individual.

Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Law Enforcement, Honolulu Police Department, State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers, and one individual.

Your Committees find that an increasing number of states are setting forth clear rules in advance for agencies and officers to ensure officers are only engaging in vehicle law enforcement pursuits when necessary and when the public safety benefits of such pursuits outweigh the risks. Your Committees believe that one of the best ways to ensure transparent, effective, and ethical policing is for the public to be democratically involved in setting expectations for police practices. This measure will advance public safety and avoid preventable fatalities and injuries by providing critical regulations for police vehicle pursuits.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the agency responsible for data collection and policy dissemination from the Department of Law Enforcement to the Department of the Attorney General;

(2) Removing language that would have required the Department of Law Enforcement to adopt administrative rules pursuant to chapter 91, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

(3) Making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs and Transportation and Culture and the Arts that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2748, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2748, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs and Transportation and Culture and the Arts,

________________________________ CHRIS LEE, Chair

________________________________ GLENN WAKAI, Chair