STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2183

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2345

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs and Health and Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 2345 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CRISIS INTERVENTION,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Require the Department of Law Enforcement to coordinate crisis intervention training for state and county law enforcement agencies and crisis intervention officers;

(2) Require the Department of Health to certify crisis intervention officers;

(3) Define "crisis intervention officer";

(4) Authorize crisis intervention officers to order persons determined to be imminently dangerous to themselves or others to be transported to a designated behavioral health crisis center; and

(5) Establish positions.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Law Enforcement; Department of Health; State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers; Institute for Human Services, Inc.; Hawaii Disability Rights Center; Hawaii Substance Abuse Coalition; and three individuals.

Your Committees find that thousands of people in the State are cited or arrested each year for offenses such as drinking liquor in public; loitering in public parks after hours; and camping on sidewalks, beaches, and other restricted public places, many of whom are mentally ill, and subsequently do not appear in court, leading courts to issue bench warrants for their arrests. Your Committees further find that this cycle between the court system, prosecutors, and police expends unnecessary time, energy, and resources to bring violators to court. This measure will break this cycle by implementing crisis intervention measures.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Amending the definition of "crisis intervention officer" to mean a law enforcement officer who has been trained to recognize and communicate with a person in crisis or suffering from some form of impairment, whether from dementia, Alzheimer's disease, or any physical, developmental, cognitive, psychological, or substance disorder influencing their behavior;

(2) Deleting language that would have allowed a crisis intervention officer to respond to a call for assistance from an officer, who has reason to believe that a person is imminently dangerous to themself or others;

(3) Inserting unspecified appropriation amounts; and

(4) Inserting an effective date of January 1, 2042, to encourage further discussion.

Your Committees note that the Senate Draft 1 of this measure contains unspecified appropriation amounts. Should your Committee on Ways and Means choose to deliberate on this measure, your Committees respectfully requests that it considers inserting an appropriation amount of $500,000 for crisis intervention officer positions and $163,000 for training and certification for fiscal year 2024-2025.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs and Health and Human Services that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2345, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2345, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs and Health and Human Services,

________________________________ JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair

________________________________ GLENN WAKAI, Chair