Few government employees wield more direct power over Hawaii’s citizens than the police. Armed with guns, high-tech surveillance tools and great authority to enforce the law, these officers fulfill a vital role in our society, and, generally, follow the rules themselves.
Sometimes, however, officers fall short of the high standards their jobs rightfully require, sometimes so egregiously that they are suspended for serious wrongdoing. Yet, in these cases, the public finds out very little — reflecting a gross lack of government accountability and transparency that the state Legislature is finally in a position to correct.
House Bill 1812, House Draft 1, would amend the state’s open-records law to delete a clause inserted in 1995 that wrongfully shields police officers’ misconduct from public oversight. While on-the-job behavior that results in the suspension of any other government employee can be publicly disclosed, police officers are exempt from this requirement.
Given the enormous authority that police hold over ordinary people, and the fact that serious misconduct has been documented through the limited disclosure now allowed, continuing this special treatment for Hawaii’s police is clearly against the public interest.
We strongly urge lawmakers to approve this draft of House Bill 1812, and not dilute it. A so-called companion bill that crossed over from the Senate is weak by comparison. Furthermore, it is distressing to hear lawmakers consider limiting the scope of the disclosure to officers suspended for at least a year. That extraordinarily long punishment is rarely doled out; far more common are one- or two-day suspensions, meted out even in disciplinary cases related to criminal conduct.
As Brian Black, executive director of The Civil Beat Law Center for the Public Interest, noted in testimony in favor of the bill, all the public can find out now about police officers’ suspensions is the sparse information contained in annual reports to the Legislature. Those reports provide little detail, but do reveal numerous instances of unnamed officers being suspended for things such as lying to other law enforcement agents, hindering investigations, assault and committing hit-and-run accidents. One example from a recent report: "Pled guilty to criminal charges … (suspended) one day."
More information about every suspension is necessary, not just the longest punishments. Knowing the officers’ names is essential as well, to ascertain whether there are repeat offenders in the ranks.
Putting police back on the same footing as other public employees is consistent with a 1996 opinion from Hawaii’s Supreme Court, a 1997 opinion issued by the state Office of Information Practices and a ruling just last month in Oahu’s Circuit Court. All held that disclosing information about a public worker’s job-related misconduct that results in suspension or discharge is not "highly personal and intimate information," and therefore does not violate the right to privacy guaranteed by Hawaii’s Constitution.
As the open-records law applies now to all except the police, it is legal to release the government employee’s name, the nature of the employment-related misconduct, the employer’s summary of the allegations, findings of fact and conclusions of law, and whether the employee was suspended or fired. That’s a bare minimum for public oversight, and the fact that these reasonable disclosure requirements do not apply to police officers who have been suspended — only those who are fired — is outrageous.
The Hawaii police union opposes this bill, as does the Honolulu Police Department. That HPD’s position is predictable makes it no less shameful.
No government agency should seek to shield misconduct by its employees, least of all the police department. Willing, transparent disclosure of misconduct committed by a small minority of officers will lead to greater trust in the integrity of the department, not less.
The special exemption for police was unwarranted when the Legislature approved it in 1995 and is indefensible now. Lawmakers must stand up to the powerful police union and do what’s right. Pass House Bill 1812, House Draft 1.
