Streamlined data collection on domestic violence cases was the center of a report released Monday by the Honolulu Office of the City Auditor.
The audit called on the Honolulu Police Department and Department of the Prosecuting Attorney to implement data collection practices that would integrate both departments to reduce redundancy.
One of the recommendations called on both departments to create an official understanding of “categories to be reported under domestic violence; and provides consistent and uniform definitions, terms, and jargon that facilitate domestic violence reporting and communications.”
Tiffany Kaeo, division chief of the Family Prosecution Division in the prosecutor’s office, said data is collected on violation of Hawaii Revised Statues 709-906, regarding abuse of family or household members. However, other violations of law could be a domestic violence case.
“For example, a woman can get assaulted by her boyfriend and break her nose. So that will be (classified) as an assault in the second degree,” she said.
“But a stranger could also get his nose broken — say a tourist was assaulted by somebody — and that would also be an assault. … There’s no distinguishing way to identify domestic violence from those assaults.”
According to the audit, HPD has created a way to distinguish domestic violence cases and other crimes.
The report also noted a decrease in domestic violence cases in 2020, down about 31% from the previous year.
However, Nanci Kreidman, CEO of the Domestic Violence Action Center, said that does not necessarily mean there was a reduction in domestic violence, as providers saw increases in calls to its help line during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kaeo also did not see an increase in domestic violence cases at the prosecutor’s office.
“Just because it might be happening in the home, it may not necessarily be reported to police or law enforcement,” she said.
“And that explains why those agencies saw a significant increase but not necessarily prosecutions, or police involvement saw an increase.”
Another recommendation by the audit was for the prosecutor’s office to conduct “vertical” prosecution, which means that one lawyer sticks to the same domestic violence case all the way through, instead of multiple lawyers switching in throughout the legal process.
“The goal behind that for domestic violence prosecution is so the victim doesn’t have to repeat her story to so many people,” Kaeo said,
“You kind of have built that rapport and establish that relationship throughout the pendency of the case.”
Kaeo said although that is the best practice, it becomes difficult if the office becomes overwhelmed by the number of cases.
Kreidman emphasized the need from both the prosecutor’s office and HPD to consider domestic violence a priority, which could mean better training and for the community to be more vigilant about the issue.
“I would love to see a premium team dedicated to community,” she said, “and has people with experience who can take these cases, prosecute them and win.”
HPD completed four of the seven recommendations made to the department by the audit. Three were still being resolved.
The prosecutor’s office completed three of the
10 recommendations. Seven were still being
resolved.
