Bill requiring identification of disciplined Hawaii police officers advancing

State lawmakers are a step closer to passing a bill that would require the names of disciplined police officers to be disclosed publicly like other government employees.

Senate and House conferees are scheduled to meet today after agreeing on final language to House Bill 285 Tuesday.

While no public testimony was taken, the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers sent an eight-page letter to lawmakers two weeks ago voicing its continued strong opposition to the bill.

Mayor Kirk Caldwell, meanwhile, issued a statement voicing strong support for the legislation.

The bill requires Hawaii’s four county police departments to submit annual reports to the Legislature that disclose the identity of officers suspended or discharged.

The language also amends the state Uniform Information Practices Act to allow for disclosure of the names of county police officers who are suspended for misconduct. (Current law already requires disclosure of fired officers but not those who resign on their own.)

State Rep. Aaron Johanson (D, Fort Ruger-Moanalua- Aliamanu), said that “it’s important to have transparency and disclosure, particularly when it comes to maintaining the public’s trust.”

The UIPA requires the names of all disciplined state and city government employees to be disclosed but carves out an exemption for police officers. The bill removes that exemption, said Johanson, who chairs the House Labor and Public Employment Committee.

“It makes police treated the same as every other civil servant if you want to go through the UIPA (process) to find out about misconduct,” he said.

Open-government advocates including Common Cause Hawaii, the Civil Beat Law Center for the Public Interest and the Society of Professional Journalists have for years sought passage of the bill, as has the state Office of Information Practices.

But SHOPO President Malcolm Lutu, in its letter to lawmakers, said that “no one … has to date explained how disclosing a suspended officer’s name will hold that officer more accountable or responsible for his/her actions after he/she has already been disciplined by the police chief.”

Nearly three pages of the letter details instances in the past two years where officers’ lives have been placed in danger, including the January incident in the Diamond Head area where officers Tiffany Enriquez and Kaulike Kalama were killed.

Disciplinary procedures and protocols are already in place to hold officers accountable for their actions, Lutu said. “What HB285 will promote is the selling of newspapers, shaming our officers’ families and discouraging new recruits from joining the police department.”

Lutu said SHOPO “strongly condemns and rebukes what happened to George Floyd and the actions that occurred in Minneapolis.” A national discussion about police accountability ensued after last month’s incident where video showed Floyd died after he was being restrained with the knee of a Minneapolis police officer against his neck. All four officers involved were fired. One officer additionally was charged with second-degree murder; the three others were charged with aiding and abetting.

“That is not who we are here in Hawaii!” Lutu wrote.

House Judiciary Chairman Chris Lee (D, Kailua- Lanikai-Waimanalo) said he’s spoken to longtime friends who are police officers who don’t oppose the bill.

“For them, having the overall perception that bad officers are being protected just makes it harder for them and makes them feel bad because people are coming after them saying, ‘Oh, we don’t trust you because you guys aren’t doing this or that,’” Lee said.

“The bottom line is officers can’t do their jobs effectively if the public doesn’t trust them,” Lee said. Ensuring that the public trusts them to do the right thing “goes miles toward improving the public’s response to law enforcement and ultimately the outcomes that we see when it comes to crime, policing and dealing with difficult situations that are out there every day.”

Caldwell, in a statement, said officers have challenging jobs and serve a critical role in protecting the public’s civil liberties. The vast majority of them are dedicated and hardworking, he said.

”It is time to recognize that protecting public safety and promoting transparency and accountability are not incompatible goals,” the mayor said.