Shine a light on operations of Hawaii’s police departments
The deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor this year at the hands of police officers have prompted many Americans to take to the streets in protest. Activists have called for various police reforms, such as defunding the police, ending qualified immunity, and even demilitarizing local law enforcement. Reforms are desperately needed, but now more than ever, we must also ensure more transparency in law enforcement. This will go a long way in ensuring that bad officers are held accountable for their actions and that police properly serve all communities.
This issue becomes all the more urgent as we take a close look at Hawaii’s law enforcement policies. Consider that if George Floyd’s murder happened in Hawaii, there would be hardly any publicly available information about the officer’s previous disciplinary record because of the lack of transparency in state law. This is an unacceptable standard that could allow bad officers to continue working when they should be relieved of their duties.
While protesters in Hawaii — like those across the country — have denounced what they’ve perceived as overt racial bias in law enforcement activities, Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard has stated that there is less racial bias among police in Hawaii than on the mainland.
Unfortunately, there is no way to prove this because the data around this subject remains limited to the public. What we do know, however, from the limited data is that Black, Native Hawaiian and Pacific islander communities have experienced more adverse police exper- iences compared to other ethnic groups.
The reality is that Hawaii, along with 14 other states, greatly limits the availability of police disciplinary records in order to protect police officers from prose- cution. Police unions such as SHOPO have closely held and carefully negotiated these protections over the years. Indeed, one such protection that benefits unscrupulous officers is the lack of police transparency. As we have seen in recent years, this is an outdated and dangerous practice that needs to change.
Clearly the people of Hawaii understand this and want to do more to fix the state’s police departments. Local leaders have heeded this call by reviving and passing House Bill 285, which, if signed into law by Gov. David Ige, would require detailed information when there is any police misconduct. The bill would provide the names of officers who have been suspended and fired. In addition, it would further require the disclosure of disciplinary records that are not currently public under state law.
Solutions like these are long overdue, and making this bill law would be the good first step toward greater transparency and more police reform. It would also allow Hawaii to join 12 other states that have already taken up this important policy.
At the end of the day, greater accountability is needed among all police officers. However, accountability is not possible without transparency, and the signing of HB 285 would do just that. To be clear, not all police officers are bad — far from it — but bad ones should not be able to exploit safeguards to protect them for their malfeasance.
Our policing system is broken, and more needs to be done to bring bad cops to justice. This bill would help do just that.
