Bill Text: HI SCR154 | 2020 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Requesting The Attorney General To Submit Reports On The Reporting, Investigation, And Prosecution Of Hate Crimes In The State.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-07-02 - Referred to FIN, referral sheet 53 [SCR154 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2020-SCR154-Amended.html
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THE SENATE |
S.C.R. NO. |
154 |
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THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2020 |
S.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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SENATE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
REQUESTING THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO SUBMIT REPORTS ON THE REPORTING, INVESTIGATION, AND PROSECUTION OF HATE CRIMES IN THE STATE.
WHEREAS, hate crimes are defined as any criminal act in which the perpetrator intentionally selected a victim because of hostility toward the actual or perceived race, religion, disability, ethnicity, national origin, gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation of any person; and
WHEREAS, the Department of the Attorney General is responsible for the collection, storage, dissemination, and analysis of all hate crime data from all agencies that have primary investigative, action, or program responsibility for adult or juvenile offenses, including the county police departments, the county prosecutors, the family courts, and the departments or agencies responsible for administering any correctional facilities; and
WHEREAS, the Department of the Attorney General currently only includes data based on convictions in its annual report of hate crime data submitted to the Governor, Judiciary, Department of Public Safety, and Legislature; and
WHEREAS, based on this rendering of statistics, only two hate crimes were reported for the State in the most recent annual report; and
WHEREAS, hate crime data acquired by the county police departments indicates that the number of crimes initially flagged as hate crimes greatly exceeds the number reported by the Attorney General; and
WHEREAS, there appears to be a disconnect between the number of crimes initially reported as hate crimes and those that are eventually included in the Attorney General's report; and
WHEREAS, current reporting lacks data to explain the process whereby crimes initially flagged as hate crimes lose the hate crime element during the investigation and prosecution periods; and
WHEREAS, the reporting of hate crimes is a requirement for the National Incident-Based Reporting System version of the nationwide Uniform Crime Reporting Program, and the Department of the Attorney General is currently overseeing a statewide transition to the National Incident-Based Reporting System; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirtieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2020, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Attorney General is requested to submit a report to the Legislature on the reporting, investigation, and prosecution of hate crimes in the State; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the report is requested to include:
(1) The status of the implementation of the National Incident-Based Reporting System;
(2) Areas where the reporting of hate crimes has been identified as lacking, insufficient, or inaccurate;
(3) The status of the progression of hate crime investigations and prosecutions from the initial police report to the closing of the case, including identification of and explanation for the removal of the hate crime element from the case; and
(4) Recommendations on improvements to be made in the prosecution and reporting of hate crimes; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Attorney General is requested to submit a a preliminary report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than forty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2021 and a final report to the Legislature no later than forty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2022; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Attorney General, Prosecuting Attorney of each county, and Chief of Police of each county.
Hate Crime Reporting
