HB2748 SD1

SECTION 1. The legislature appreciates the sanctity of life, and acknowledges that vehicular pursuits are inherently dangerous due to the conditions of the State's roads. Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to statutorily establish statewide vehicular law enforcement pursuit policies.

SECTION 2. Chapter 139, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§139- Vehicular pursuit. (a) No law enforcement officer shall engage in a vehicular pursuit unless:

(1) The law enforcement officer has a reasonable suspicion to believe that a person in the vehicle to be pursued has committed or is committing one or more of the following:

(A) A felony offense under chapter 707 or 708 that involves physical injury to the person of another;

(B) A sexual offense under part V of chapter 707;

(i) In a reckless manner; or

(ii) Without regard for the safety of others;

(D) The offense of abuse of family or household members under section 709-906;

(E) The offense of escape in the first degree under section 710-1020;

(F) The offense of escape in the second degree under section 710-1021; or

(G) The offense of operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant under section 291E-61;

(2) The vehicular pursuit is necessary to identify or apprehend the person;

(3) The person poses a serious risk of harm to others and the law enforcement officer reasonably believes that, under the circumstances, the safety risks of failing to identify or apprehend the person are greater than the safety risks of the vehicular pursuit; and

(4) The pursuing law enforcement officer notifies a supervising law enforcement officer immediately upon initiating the vehicular pursuit; the supervising law enforcement officer oversees the vehicular pursuit; and the pursuing law enforcement officer, in consultation with the supervising law enforcement officer, considers alternatives to the vehicular pursuit, the justification for the vehicular pursuit, and other safety considerations, including speed, weather, traffic, road conditions, and any known presence of minors in the vehicle.

(b) In any vehicular pursuit performed under this section:

(1) The pursuing law enforcement officer and the supervising law enforcement officer shall comply with any applicable procedures for designating the primary pursuit vehicle and determining the appropriate number of vehicles permitted to engage in the vehicular pursuit;

(2) Either the supervising law enforcement officer, pursuing law enforcement officer, or dispatcher shall notify other law enforcement agencies that may be impacted by the vehicular pursuit or called upon to assist with the vehicular pursuit;

(3) To the extent practicable, the pursuing law enforcement officer shall use a common radio channel or other direct means of communication to directly communicate with other law enforcement officers engaging in the vehicular pursuit, the supervising law enforcement officer, and the dispatching law enforcement agency;

(4) As soon as practicable after initiating a vehicular pursuit, the pursuing law enforcement officer, supervising law enforcement officer, or responsible law enforcement agency shall develop a plan to end the vehicular pursuit through the use of available pursuit intervention options, techniques, or tactics approved by the applicable law enforcement agency; and

(5) The pursuing law enforcement officer shall be certified in at least one pursuit intervention option and, within the two years preceding the vehicular pursuit, have completed an initial emergency vehicle operators course or emergency vehicle operators course update, as applicable; provided that the initial emergency vehicle operators course or emergency vehicle operators course update shall include training on performing the risk assessment analysis described in subsection (a)(3).

(c) Any law enforcement officer engaging in a vehicular pursuit that fails to satisfy the requirements of this section shall terminate the pursuit.

(d) No law enforcement officer shall fire a weapon upon a moving vehicle unless necessary to protect against an imminent threat of serious physical harm resulting from the operator's or a passenger's use of a deadly weapon; provided that if the operator is using the vehicle as a deadly weapon, a law enforcement officer shall only fire a weapon upon the vehicle if no other reasonable means to avoid potential serious physical harm are immediately available to the law enforcement officer.

(e) Each law enforcement agency shall annually furnish to the department of the attorney general, in a manner defined and prescribed by the department of the attorney general, a report of all vehicular pursuits conducted in the prior year by law enforcement officers employed by the law enforcement agency.

(f) Each report required under subsection (e) shall include, at a minimum, the following information for each vehicular pursuit:

(1) The reason for the pursuit, including the offense that served as a basis for the pursuit;

(2) The date, start time, and end time of the pursuit;

(3) The start and end locations of the pursuit;

(4) A summary of the circumstances surrounding the pursuit;

(5) Whether a body-worn camera was worn and active for the duration of the pursuit;

(6) Whether a dashboard camera was present and active for the duration of the pursuit;

(7) Whether the pursuit resulted in an accident, injury requiring medical treatment, or death to a law enforcement officer or member of the public;

(8) If the pursuit resulted in an accident, injury requiring medical treatment, or death, a description of the accident and details of each law enforcement officer or member of the public injured or killed, including the type and severity of the injuries sustained by each, if any;

(9) Unique identification numbers for each pursuing and supervising law enforcement officer;

(10) If a citation was issued, the violations cited;

(11) If an arrest was made, the offense charged; and

(12) Whether the law enforcement officer searched the person or any property, and, if so, the type of search, the basis for the search, and type of contraband or evidence discovered, if any.

(g) The department of the attorney general shall make all information obtained from law enforcement agencies under subsection (e) publicly available on the department of the attorney general's website, classified by law enforcement agency, in a manner that is clear, understandable, and machine-readable.

(h) Law enforcement agencies subject to subsection (e) shall not report or make publicly available the name, address, social security number, or other unique personal identifying information of the persons pursued. Law enforcement agencies are solely responsible for ensuring that personally identifying information of individuals pursued is not transmitted to the department of the attorney general or otherwise released to the public.

(i) As used in this section:

"Authorized law enforcement vehicle" means a county law enforcement vehicle, department of law enforcement vehicle, or department of land and natural resources division of conservation and resources enforcement vehicle authorized and approved pursuant to section 291-31.5.

"Law enforcement agency" shall have the same meaning as in section 78-52.

"Vehicle" shall have the same meaning as in section 286-2.

"Vehicular pursuit" or "pursuit" means an attempt by a law enforcement officer in an authorized law enforcement vehicle to stop a moving vehicle where the operator of the moving vehicle appears to be aware that the law enforcement officer is signaling the operator of the moving vehicle to stop the vehicle and the operator of the moving vehicle appears to be wilfully resisting or ignoring the law enforcement officer's attempt to stop the vehicle by increasing vehicle speed, making evasive maneuvers, or operating the vehicle in a reckless manner that endangers the safety of the community or law enforcement officer."

SECTION 3. This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.

SECTION 4. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 3000.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2748
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024		H.D. 2
STATE OF HAWAII		S.D. 1