SECTION 1. The legislature finds that consistency in recruitment and training are key for state and county law enforcement agencies. There are no existing statewide standards for recruitment of and training for law enforcement personnel across the sheriff's division, harbor police, airport police, and conservation and resources officers. There are also law enforcement personnel in the department of the attorney general and department of taxation who carry guns, wear badges, and have arrest powers. All of these personnel could benefit from statewide standards.

A recent incident within the department of land and natural resources involved a Honolulu police officer who was fired from the county, subsequently hired by the department of land and natural resources, and ultimately charged with sexual assault of a minor. This incident highlights the need to have statewide recruitment and hiring standards. Ongoing training issues for personnel in harbors, airports, and the sheriff's division also suggest the need to consolidate training among state and county agencies and to provide standards and policies across the board that impact all state and county law enforcement officers.

The legislature further finds that Hawaii is currently one of a small number of states that has no statewide standards for law enforcement personnel at the county or state level. A certification and de-certification process for state and county law enforcement officers would be a significant positive step to further professionalize Hawaii's law enforcement.

The intent of the legislature is to create cost savings, efficiencies in operations, and consistency in hiring law enforcement personnel within state and county government, as well as establish statewide standards to improve law enforcement personnel. It is also the intent of the legislature to ultimately create a state certification process for state and county law enforcement officers.

The purpose of this Act is to:

(1) Require the governor to appoint a law enforcement working group to recommend professional recruitment, hiring, and training standards for all state and county law enforcement officers who carry firearms and badges and who have arrest authority; and

(2) Prohibit a law enforcement officer who has been terminated for misconduct by a state or county department, agency, or office in the capacity of law enforcement from being hired by another state or county law enforcement department, agency, or office.

SECTION 2. (a) The governor shall appoint a law enforcement working group to be administratively attached to the department of the attorney general. The purpose of the working group shall be to recommend a process and minimum requirements for certification and de-certification of all state and county law enforcement officers by establishing professional recruitment, hiring, and training standards for all state and county law enforcement officers who carry firearms and badges and who have arrest authority.

(b) The law enforcement working group shall consist of the following members:

(1) The attorney general or the attorney general's designee;

(2) A representative of the division of conservation and resources enforcement of the department of land and natural resources;

(3) A representative of the department of public safety;

(4) A representative of the department of transportation;

(5) A representative of the compliance division of the department of taxation;

(6) The director of human resources development or the director's designee;

(7) The chief of police of each county police department or each chief's respective designee; and

(8) Two community members to be appointed by the governor without regard to section 26-34, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and who have at least five years of experience in criminal justice, academia, non-profit, or private sector human resource management.

(c) In addition to subsection (b), the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives shall each appoint to the law enforcement working group one individual with at least ten years of experience in law enforcement at the state, federal, or county level; provided that the individual shall no longer be employed in a law enforcement capacity.

(d) The law enforcement working group shall meet at least . All meetings of the law enforcement working group shall be subject to the requirements of chapters 91 and 92, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

(e) The law enforcement working group shall:

(1) Submit a preliminary report to the legislature by December 1, 2020; provided that prior to completion of the report, the law enforcement working group shall hold at least two public hearings to receive public testimony and comments on a draft of the report; and

(2) Submit a final report to the legislature by December 1, 2021, which shall include recommendations for statewide recruitment standards, hiring standards, and training standards for all law enforcement officers in order to be certified by the State to serve as a law enforcement officer; provided that at a minimum, all state and county law enforcement officers shall be required to be high school graduates.

(f) The law enforcement working group shall cease to exist on May 31, 2022.

SECTION 3. Chapter 28, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§28- Hiring of terminated law enforcement officer prohibited. A law enforcement officer who has been terminated for misconduct by a state or county department, agency, or office in the capacity of law enforcement shall not be hired by another state or county law enforcement department, agency, or office unless the law enforcement officer is reinstated through collective bargaining or the legal process. The department of the attorney general shall be responsible for maintaining a list of all law enforcement officers who have been terminated or forced to resign for misconduct by a state or county department, agency, or office; provided that law enforcement officers who have been reinstated shall be removed from the list as soon as reasonably possible."

SECTION 4. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect on January 1, 2050.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2071
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018		H.D. 2
STATE OF HAWAII		S.D. 2