STAND. COM. REP. NO 128

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                

 

RE:    S.B. No. 424

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 424 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC SAFETY,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

 

     (1)  Require police departments to disclose to the Legislature the identity of an officer upon the officer's second suspension in a five-year period or discharge; and

 

     (2)  Require disclosure under the Uniform Information Practices Act after a police officer's second suspension in a five-year period.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Information Practices, League of Women Voters of Hawaii, Society of Professional Journalists Hawaii Chapter, and Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers and Civil Beat Law Center for the Public Interest.

 

Your Committee finds that disclosing the identities of police officers who are suspended twice within a five-year period serves the public interest.  Transparency and accountability of police officers are of great importance in maintaining the public's confidence in law enforcement, and a healthy relationship between police and the public is essential for maintaining the health, safety, and welfare of the public.

 

     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. 424 and recommends that it pass Second Reading 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