STAND. COM. REP. NO. 303-24

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2024

RE: H.B. No. 2621

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 2621 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO LAW ENFORCEMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to establish a Task Force on Ethical Policing to evaluate the efficacy and impact of weed and seed programs.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Public Defender; Community Alliance on Prisons; and Kapalama Neighborhood Security Walk. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers and one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the ACLU Hawaiʻi.

Your Committee finds that concerns exist regarding the efficacy of weed and seed programs compared to other data-driven crime reduction strategies. This measure requires the Task Force on Ethical Policing to evaluate weed and seed programs effect on crime rates; arrest rates, including the rates for persons of color, low-income persons, and unsheltered persons; sentencing; law enforcement presence; and public perception.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Adding a representative from an organization involved with the communities affected by weed and seed programs to the Task Force on Ethical Policing;

(2) Requiring the Task Force on Ethical Policing to use crime, arrest, prosecution, and policing data from the onset of weed and seed programs in Hawaii to evaluate the efficacy and impact of the programs;

(3) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

(4) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2621, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2621, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair