Last week, Gov. David Ige stood by his nomination of Department of Public Safety Director Nolan Espinda to run the state’s corrections system for the next four years, commending him in general terms for his handling of some 3,000 employees, a $300 million annual budget, and the detainee and inmate populations.
For his part, Espinda — who has worked in the department for three decades, as director since 2015 — defended his tenure in the top post before a state Senate committee last week. Among accomplishments, he pointed to improvements in inmate visitation routines and sheriff training, as well as a decline in escapes by furloughed inmates.
Such a job review might serve as a shoo-in for a second term when a corrections system is running at optimal levels. Regrettably, that is not the case here.
The state’s corrections system is plagued with long-standing woes, including severely overcrowded and dilapidated facilities, that have played roles in troubling events and reports surfacing during Espinda’s watch. While DPS’s leader is not responsible for all that is inherited, he or she must claim ownership for present problems.
Both literally and symbolically, prisons and jails are closed institutions, usually operating far away from public view. But when public safety is rattled or constitutional treatment is in doubt, the corrections system’s leader has a duty to be candid with the public in addressing the causes, consequences and proposed remedies.
Espinda’s track record on such candor falls far short of stellar. For example, in the immediate aftermath of the hours-long riot on March 11 at Maui Community Correctional Center, during which inmates trashed two housing modules, breaking furniture and igniting a small fire that charred walls, DPS blamed overcrowding.
DPS officials pointed out that the Wailuku jail’s occupancy rate was at 136 percent; and that plans are in the works to replace the outdated MCCC. We now know, thanks to jail staff, that other factors likely played key roles. In a recent Honolulu Star-Advertiser story, reporter Kevin Dayton outlined other concerns ranging from short-staffing to ineffective cell locks.
Among other recent problems: Days before the riot, an Oahu Community Correctional Center inmate was fatally shot while trying to escape in what Espinda acknowledged was a “major mistake.” And in February a sheriff’s deputy fatally shot a disabled, homeless man at the state Capitol.
Also, there have been more than two dozen suicides at prisons and jails since 2010, and DPS has continued to have problems with inadvertent overstays — holding inmates past scheduled release dates.
Two years ago, the Legislature directed a Judiciary-led task force to draft recommendations on how to improve Hawaii’s corrections system. A primary focus of the resulting report is to establish an independent oversight commission to help ensure public accountability and transparency.
Along those lines, state lawmakers should support House Bill 1552, which would create a commission tasked with inspecting and monitoring facilities, investigating complaints, reporting findings to the public and ushering in broad reforms stressing rehabilitation over punitive measures. In written testimony, Espinda said he welcomes the reform-minded commission — so that, at least, is encouraging.
Two more days of hearings are slated this week on Espinda’s nomination. Sen. Clarence Nishihara, who heads the Senate Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs Committee, has told the Star-Advertiser that he opposes reconfirmation.
That’s wholly understandable. Although the DPS director’s job is indeed “challenging” and “tough,” as Espinda stated in his testimony, status quo leadership at this time is a potential public disservice.
