City opens shelter for victims who testify in domestic violence, sex assault cases

The doors to a unique, city-owned shelter for victims who testify in domestic violence, sex assault and human trafficking cases will open today in Makiki.

“It’s like a witness protection program,” city Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro said in an interview Tuesday. “It’s to protect victims from the defendants.”

The Honolulu Family Justice Center is “the first facility of its kind in the nation,” and key to Kaneshiro’s plan to provide support for domestic violence victims and to hold offenders accountable, the prosecutor’s office said in a news release. The converted apartment complex, complete with 20 renovated one-bedroom units for long-term transitional housing, a common living area and an administrative office, is set in a secure building.

It is not, however, for any victim of domestic violence, but rather for those who will testify in ongoing cases, Kaneshiro said.

“In the past they had a fear of testifying,” Kaneshiro said. “Many refuse to cooperate because they’re back into the same environment of violence, without a means of support. They won’t testify. We’re trying to take away those concerns.”

Upon returning to the prosecutor’s office in 2010, Kaneshiro found that there was discussion about consolidating services for witnesses in such cases, but not about finding a place for them to live.

Kaneshiro, who has made prosecution of domestic violence and sex assault cases among his top priorities, conceived of the idea to provide housing.

“If they have to return back to the home, then we’re not going to really accomplish that much,” he said. “We have to give them a way to escape.”

One of the building’s apartments was used earlier this year, while most of the complex was still under renovation. The prosecutor’s office housed for about a week a resident who was brought back from the mainland to testify at trial in a sex trafficking case, Dave Koga, the prosecutor’s office spokesman, said Wednesday.

The units are clean and bright, each with a small living room, a kitchen with appliances, a bathroom, a washer/dryer, a television and an intercom system that allows communication with the office.

Security features have been built into the facility, which is equipped with 29 security cameras and a monitoring station inside. The monitor provides views from all of the cameras in the security office, and can also be viewed from the prosecutor’s office.

A large front security gate with a post that will be manned by a guard 24/7 provides protection. And if anyone should try to scale the property’s perimeter walls, an alarm will sound.

The center also houses a Honolulu Police Department interview room with a one-way mirror and an office.

The prosecutor’s office requested and the City Council approved $6.475 million to purchase and renovate the apartment building. The purchase price was $5.5 million, and an additional $975,000 was spent on renovations.

The city also received a $112,000 federal grant and a $50,000 grant from the Atherton Family Foundation for equipment, computers and televisions.

It will take $400,000 to $500,000 annually to run, depending on the number of tenants. It’s cost-free to residents.

“After testifying, they will have up to two years to get back on their feet and begin a new life,” Kaneshiro said.

That includes drug treatment services, counseling, medical services, education, job training and eventually job placement.

“If they need longer, we can extend it, but they have to be moving towards independence,” he said. “Hopefully the case will be litigated by then.”

Among the agencies the prosecutor’s office plans to work with to provide services are: Ala Kuola Hawaii, which helps domestic violence victims to get protective orders, the Sex Abuse Treatment Center and the Susannah Wesley Community Center, which provides services to human trafficking victims, among others.

“I think it’s going to be good,” said Ed Flores, executive director of Ala Kuola Hawaii. “It’s just the beginning of the vision that Keith Kaneshiro and Pam Tamashiro (the center’s executive director) have for the center. I think it’s going to morph into a lot more for victims of domestic violence.”

The private nonprofit organization helps victims of domestic violence understand how prose-cution works.

Domestic violence cases can take from six months to a year, but if the case goes beyond two years, the witnesses would be allowed to stay, Kaneshiro said. As for sexual assault cases, it depends on the courts and how complicated the case is, but they are usually completed within two years, he said.

Witnesses are often harmed while waiting to testify against their abusers. “We want to prevent people from actually being killed,” Kaneshiro said.

Kaneshiro acknowledged there are too many domestic violence cases to count, and that the facility’s 20 units may get filled up.

“We’ll see how it goes,” he said. “If it fills up, if there’s a need for more live-in facilities, we’re going to seek it. We’re starting off small, so it runs efficiently and safely.”