By
Nick Grube
PF
Bentley/Honolulu Civil Beat
Hawaii
Sen. Will Espero during a hearing at the State Capitol.
Hawaii
lawmakers passed a bill out of conference committee Wednesday that will force
county police departments to disclose more information about officers who get
in trouble for misconduct.
If
signed into law, Senate Bill 2591 will force police chiefs to tell the
Legislature how many officers were suspended or fired in a given year, and
whether the disciplinary action resulted in criminal charges or was still
subject to a union appeal.
Any
disciplinary action that is overturned will require police chiefs to include an
explanation as to why the punishment was revoked. This should also be the case
if a disciplined officer resigned before the punishment was finalized.
“This
will be one of our positive measures that we pass this session in terms of
transparency and open government,” said Sen. Will Espero. “It’s a big step and
there’s more to do, but this is certainly a win.”
Espero
introduced SB 2591 in response to Civil Beat’s series In The Name Of The Law,
which examined the secrecy and lack of public accountability surrounding police
misconduct.
A
key component of that series involved an analysis of annual misconduct reports
each county police department is required to submit to the Legislature. Civil
Beat found that about once a week on average a Honolulu police officer is
suspended or discharged for breaking the law or violating policy.
But
the reports provided little detail about the type of misconduct that is
actually taking place in a department. Important details, such as an officer’s
name or whether they were prosecuted for a crime, are not included.
That’s
because the state’s police union was successful in convincing lawmakers in 1995
to carve out an exemption in the Hawaii public records law that allows
departments to withhold information about suspended cops. Fired officers,
however, are not afforded this shield and are subject to having details about
their misconduct released.
SB
2591 does not require police agencies to release suspended officers records.
However,
a Hawaii Circuit Court judge recently ruled that suspended officers files must
be disclosed. That case has been appealed by the union.
All
other public employees who are suspended or fired — whether they’re a teacher
or a prison guard — are subject to information about their misconduct being
released.
Another
important component of SB 2591 relates to how long police departments must hold
onto an officers disciplinary records.
Departments
will often destroy a fired officer’s personnel file before the public is made
aware of it through the annual reports to the Legislature due to archaic
records retention schedules and lengthy union grievance procedures.
SB
2591 requires departments to hold onto an officer's disciplinary records for at
least 18 months after a final disciplinary action is recorded in an annual
report.
That
particular provision comes from legislation that died before making it to
conference committee. House Bill 1812 — introduced by Rep. Karl Rhoads — was a
companion piece to SB 2591 and was identical in nearly every way.
Rhoads,
however, amended the bill to include more time for lawmakers and the public to
get access to a fired officer’s disciplinary file to provide more oversight. He
also suggested changing the public records law to get rid of the exemption that
protected suspended cops from having details about their misconduct released.
The
State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers and Honolulu Police Department
vigorously opposed Rhoads’ amended HB 1812 while journalists and good
government groups, including the Media Council Hawaii, the Civil Beat Law
Center for the Public Interest and state Office of Information Practices all
supported it.
HB
1812 passed both chambers, but died before making it through conference
committee.
Brian
Black, executive director of the Civil Beat Law Center, said HB 1812 was
definitely a stronger bill due to the changes it sought in the public records
law.
But
he also noted that SB 2591 was less controversial and didn’t get as much
pushback from SHOPO, which made its presence known in the halls of the State
Capitol.
“The
original purpose of (SB 2591) was to make things better in terms of the annual
disclosures,” Black said. “Anything that’s going to make police misconduct a
more informed issue with the public is a good thing no matter what.”
SB
2591 also includes a provision that says fired police officers’ disciplinary
files will not be made available until 90 days after disciplinary action becomes
final.
Current
law requires the information to be released after 30 days.