Police reforms must be priority

Important attempts to improve public safety in Hawaii sadly have fallen short in the state Legislature. Recent events illustrate once again how important it is to reform the Honolulu Police Department, in particular. Committed lawmakers must redouble their efforts in future legislative sessions to pass comprehensive police accountability measures, despite entrenched opposition by the powerful statewide police union.

The federal case against an HPD officer caught on video allegedly assaulting two patrons at a Honolulu game room is only one example in a series of misconduct cases involving officers on and off the job.

Vincent Morre, 37, a nine-year HPD veteran, was charged Wednesday with two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law and is expected to plead guilty next week to the civil rights charges. As of Wednesday, he remained employed by HPD, assigned to desk duty eight months after the attack captured by the game room’s security cameras.

This case alone provided ripe evidence of the need to strengthen police disciplinary rules and to equip HPD officers with body cameras, an enforcement tool that has reduced excessive force complaints against police in mainland departments that have tried them. But even a limited plan for a body-cam pilot program in county police departments failed to survive the legislative session, done in during conference committee, reportedly over funding concerns.

That failure was just one of several during a session that had begun with promise, as Sen. Will Espero, then chairman of the Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs Committee, introduced a robust package of bills intended to elevate law enforcement and public safety by holding police to higher standards.

Each bill was inspired by Hawaii events illustrating true gaps in police performance, standards or accountability — not by an ill-founded fear based on problems elsewhere.

Among the worthy goals unmet:

» Body cams: The known presence of cameras would reduce use of excessive force by officers, and protect officers from false accusations by people they arrest.

Neither Senate Bill 199 nor House Bill 365, which would have funded limited pilot programs, won approval.

» Transparent discipline: Senate Bill 497 would have eliminated an exemption in the state’s public records law that shields the disciplinary records of police officers suspended for misconduct.

This unwarranted protection does the public a grave disservice and must be repealed. The case of Sgt. Darren Cachola, caught on videotape punching a woman last September, is one example of misconduct cases that fall off the radar if the officer is not fired or criminally charged.

» Domestic violence: Companion measures (Senate Bill 396 and House Bill 456) would have specified that allegations of domestic abuse against a police officer need not be made in writing or sworn to by the complainant, requirements that advocates say deter victims from coming forward.

» Definition of custody: Senate Bill 1335 sought to clarify when citizens are in police custody. It was inspired by a Honolulu police officer accused of fondling a teenager he had pulled over for speeding last fall.

A felony sex-assault charge against the officer was thrown out on the grounds that the young woman was not "in custody" because she had not been arrested. As of this week, the officer remains employed by HPD.

» Carrying a gun while drinking: House Bill 888 died on the House floor, after making it through conference committee and out of the Senate. The bill would have made it illegal to recklessly possess and discharge a loaded firearm while intoxicated. The case of an off-duty Honolulu police officer who apparently accidentally shot a woman at a bar last month brought attention to this issue.

» Authority to fire police chief: Senate Bill 677 would have allowed each county mayor to fire his county’s police chief "for good and just cause, upon approval by the police commission." Disputes involving police chiefs on Kauai and Oahu inspired the measure.

» Standards board: Hawaii is the only state that does not have a statewide police standards board. Senate Bill 568 would have set minimum training standards and created a certification process. Although the bill raised many jurisdictional and funding issues, this idea must be kept alive as a way to impose more transparency and accountability on Hawaii’s powerful police departments.