Bill Text: HI SB2210 | 2016 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Youth Gangs; Coordinated Response; Prevention and Intervention; Appropriation ($)

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-01-22 - Referred to HMS/PSM/JDL, WAM. [SB2210 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2016-SB2210-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2210
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RElating to Youth Gangs.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that there is a growing youth gang problem in Hawaii.  This is evidenced by a statewide increase in gang membership as well as an increase in gang related graffiti, violence, and criminal activity.  While ethnic and socio-economic profiles have changed over the past three decades, the dynamics and causes of gang activity remain the same.

     Since youth gang members are primarily of school age, gang related activities may impact school campuses as well.  It is reported that gang members illicitly engage in criminal activity such as distribution and sale of illegal drugs and substances.  It is also reported that members possess weapons and may be prone to violent behavior, endangering the safety and well-being of students as well as faculty and school personnel.

     Gang delinquency tends to appear in communities where factors of poverty, adolescence, and social disorganization are present.  These are social, economic, and environmental factors that continue to plague communities in Hawaii.  Social disorganization is activated in communities that have high rates of in-migration, in families that lack the skills or time to provide adolescents with the support and guidance they need, and in schools and communities that fail to offer the types of activities that foster in adolescents a sense of challenge, purpose, and belonging, and that fail to recognize and effectively assist youths who are "at-risk".  When youths turn to gangs for support and recognition, their destructive behavior is an expression of their desperate need for help from the social disorganization they are facing.

     Clearly, the existence of gangs is but a symptom of a larger set of problems that our communities experience.  The legislature finds that the development of a coordinated youth gang response system is essential to maintaining control of the gang situation.  While this response system must be community-based, it must also be system-wide and linked to schools, law enforcement, courts, parents, government agencies, community agencies and organizations, and community leaders.

     A coordinated gang response system includes:

     (1)  Effective intelligence and law enforcement;

     (2)  Sharing of information;

     (3)  Establishment of public awareness programs;

     (4)  Development of community and school-based intervention and prevention programs; and

     (5)  Evaluation and research.

     The purpose of this Act is to appropriate funds for the development of a youth gang response system coordinated by the department of the attorney general that incorporates the critical elements of law enforcement and intelligence, training and community awareness, community intervention, community prevention, information, and evaluation.

     SECTION 2.  There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $1 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2016-2017 for the development of:

     (1)  A statewide information system and information clearinghouse on youth gangs;

     (2)  Public education on the youth gang problem;

     (3)  Community support groups to help citizens confront and deal with the problems of youth gangs;

     (4)  A statewide parent education program for parents and caregivers of suspected or adjudicated gang members; and

     (5)  A statewide law enforcement task force focused on resolving and preventing youth gang criminal activities.

     The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of the attorney general for the purposes of this Act.

     SECTION 3.  There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $1 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2016-2017 for the police department of the counties of Honolulu, Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai to monitor gang activities and establish new gang prevention strategies and projects.

     The sum appropriated shall be expended by the police departments of the respective counties for the purposes of this Act.

     SECTION 4.  There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $1 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2016-2017 for the office of youth services to provide and develop prevention and intervention services and programs statewide for youth at risk.

     The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of human services' office of youth services for the purposes of this Act.

     SECTION 5.  There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $1 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2016-2017 to commission the center for youth research of the University of Hawaii to conduct an evaluation of the youth gang response system created pursuant to this Act.

     The sum appropriated shall be expended by the University of Hawaii for the purposes of this Act.

     SECTION 6.  There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $1 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2016-2017 for the department of education to develop school based gang and drug prevention and intervention programs initiated by the Honolulu police department in the Kalihi-Palama community.  The programs shall be implemented in schools in the communities of Wahiawa, Waipahu, Waianae, and Palolo, and statewide in schools with identified gang related activities.

     The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of education for the purposes of this Act.

     SECTION 7.  There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $1 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2016-2017 to the department of the attorney general to provide personnel, equipment, office space, and monitoring trips to the neighbor islands in its role as the overall coordinator of the youth gang response system established pursuant to this Act.

     The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of the attorney general for the purposes of this Act.

     SECTION 8.  Any unexpended or unencumbered balance of any appropriation made by this Act as of the close of business on June 30, 2018, shall lapse to the credit of the general fund.

     SECTION 9.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2016.

 

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

 

 

Report Title:

Youth Gangs; Coordinated Response; Prevention and Intervention; Appropriation

 

Description:

Appropriates funds for a coordinated gang response system to include the police departments, the office of youth services, the department of education, and the department of the attorney general.  Appropriates funds to the University of Hawaii to conduct an evaluation of the youth gang response system created by this Act.

 

 

 

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