HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0140.002 2002-2004OFFICE OF THE PROSECUTING ATTORNEY
2003 - 2004 FISCAL YEAR
The Office of the Prosecuting Attorney has submitted a budget and supplemental
requests that will enable us to carry out our mission of "pursuing justice with integrity
and commitment" and continue our present operation. Over the past several budget
cycles, due to fiscal constraints, the Office has limited expenditures of County fiends in
spite of increased caseloads. Referrals have increased from 14,261 in 1995 to 21,650 in
2001, an increase of 52%. Yet, County funded operating expenses have declined from
$703,600 in 1995 to $636,049 in 2002.
FISCAL YEARS 1995 - 2002
$1,000,000 -
25,000
$950,000 _ 21,650 22,500
20,8341 20,800 20,500 �
19,755 -�'
$900,000 - 20,000
$850,000 16,35 17,500
15,666
$800,000 14,261 15,000
$750,000 - 12,500
$716,786
$703,600 --
$700,000 - $684,500 10,000
$650,000 $636,049 -. 7,500
$607,400 $600,295 $598,842.. $598,342
$600,000 --- -- -- --- - - 51000
$550,000 2,500
$500.000 - _ _ _. _ 0
94-95 95-96 96-97 97-98 98-99 99-00 00-01 2001-2002
" RECENO 't? -
Operating tReterrals
Dote ---ani �oyndl
Supplemental requests totaling $499,720 were submitted. Of that $175,000 to
migrate our case tracking system off the Wang computer is included in the budget
submitted to the Council for approval. $177,620 requested for six positions, $112,100 for
operating expenses and $35,000 for equipment remain unfunded. Continued reduction in
the State's Career Criminal and Victim -Witness funding combined with our inability to
fill the void with County positions will create a serious bottleneck in the Prosecutor's O• ,�
Comm. No. ' I
File No. SL.L.L
t Ret. TO; EC
Ret. Date _'ni14 70103
Office. In addition to State funding cutbacks and recognizing the Administration's
priority to combat the ice epidemic, I expect to present personnel requests to handle
increased demands. Only with adequate personnel can we expect to fight the war on ice
and effectively prosecute career criminals. This is critical to a balanced and long-term
effort to improve the public safety of our island.
Whenever possible we have continued to proactively identify special areas of
concern and have secured State and Federal funding to supplement and enhance limited
County resources. However, due to supplanting and project restrictions, these sources of
funding cannot be relied upon to meet all of our needs.
State and Federal funded programs include: Career Criminal (CCP), Aid to
Victims (VW), Victims of Crime, Violence Against Women, Community Oriented
Prosecution, Community Empowerment Organization, Juvenile Accountability Incentive
Block Grant and Community Gun Violence Prosecution. Grant revenues currently
account for 35 of the 93 positions in the Office and for 31 % of the total Office budget.
Due to State fiscal concerns, funding for the CCP and VW programs have been cut and
may be in further jeopardy if the economic condition of the State declines.
Grant Revenue
31%
2003 - 2004 Revenue Projection
Other
2%
■General Fund Revenue
■Grant Revenue
o Other
:neral Fund Revenue
67%
The Office has worked actively with other public and private agencies and
community groups to educate the public and improve the criminal justice system.
Through the federal Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grant (JAIBG) the Office
has developed a comprehensive approach to juvenile justice called Youth Builders which
addresses prevention, intervention, incarceration and aftercare issues of juvenile
offenders. In addition, the Office has established the Community Empowerment
Organization (CEO) to address crime related problems by using multi -disciplinary
community-based methods in each of the nine judicial districts of the Big Island.
In addition, we have continued to actively pursue various drug cases in
partnership with many other County, State and Federal agencies. The recent raids on
drug houses in East Hawaii could not have been possible without the Community
Oriented Prosecutor working late into the evening and being available to review
numerous search warrants. The recent arrest and conviction of a major Career Criminal
and drug trafficker was not possible without the extensive preparation or coordination by
our investigators. These are all examples of County employees doing outstanding things
in law enforcement with limited County and State funds.
As you review our budget, please consider as our policy statement the following:
• That prosecution and public safety are core functions of the County of Hawaii;
• That prosecution is an integral part of law enforcement;
• That an effective Prosecutor's Office is part of providing for the safety of our
community;
• That the necessary resources will be provided to those who go face to face with
murderers, robbers, rapists, and give support to victims of their crimes; and
• That the laws establishing our community's norms and holding people
accountable for their actions will be fairly and effectively enforced.
The Office is staffed by dedicated personnel who strive to pursue justice every
day and need the necessary resources to carry out their duties. It is vital to this
community that we maintain our law enforcement efforts to address the myriad of
problems we face which include drugs, organized crime, thefts, sexual assaults, domestic
violence and juvenile crime. We have strived to work with the community in a balanced
way to deal with the full spectrum of crime and are committed to working with you
toward a safer and stronger Big Island.
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OFFICE OF THE PROSECUTING ATTORNEY
COUNTY OF HAWAII
PROGRAM SUMMARY
The Office of the Prosecuting Attorney is the legal agency responsible for
prosecuting all violations of State and County laws, ordinances, rules and/or regulations
on behalf of the Big Island community as provided by Hawaii County Charter Article IX:
Chapter 28; H.R.S. 28-1.
Offices are located in Hilo, Kealakekua and Waimea to serve Big Island residents.
The Office is divided into five units: The Administrative Unit; Attorneys Unit; Victim
Assistance Unit; Investigative Unit; and Clerical Support Unit. Staffing includes: 58
county funded; and 35 State/Federal funded positions.
ADMINISTRATIVE UNIT
Administration: The Prosecuting Attorney, First Deputy Prosecuting Attorney and
Business Manager direct the day to day operations of the office with regard to managing
the legal, fiscal, personnel, equipment and facilities maintenance of the operation and
coordinating staff meetings, training and other administrative services.
Secretarial Services: This section provides clerical support to Administration and
assists in the day to day operations of the office.
Fiscal Services: Provides for professional accounting in accordance with standard
accounting practices while coordinating the fiscal efforts of the State, County, and
Federal programs. These employees provide financial analysis, budgeting, and
preparation of financial statements and reports, in addition to day to day operational
needs with regard to requirements of the County's Department of Finance. The Fiscal
section also coordinates travel arrangements for extraditions, prisoner transports and staff
attending probation hearings, interviews, interagency meetings and trainings.
Management Information Services: Coordinates daily operation of the PC network;
Macintosh LAN; Wang mini computer system; and telecommunications linking the
Wang system to Police as well as the City & County of Honolulu and State of Hawaii. In
the upcoming fiscal year, work will also include migration of the case tracking system
from Wang to a PC based system and establishing connectivity to the Police Records
Management System.
Volunteer Services Coordinator: Recruits, trains and places volunteers to assist within
the Office. The volunteer services coordinator also assists in supporting special projects
within the office.
ATTORNEY'S UNIT
The Attorney's Unit, divided among East, West and North Hawaii offices,
prosecute all criminal cases that occur in their respective districts. East Hawaii's 19
deputies cover the districts of North and South Hilo, Puna and Hamakua, South Kohala
and Kau felonies. The seven West Hawaii deputies cover the districts of North and South
Kona and Ka'u misdemeanors. One attorney in North Hawaii covers the misdemeanor
and family court cases for Hamakua, South Kohala and North Kohala. There exists
specialized sub -units within the attorney's unit.
Additional Attorney Responsibilities
ADVISING: Police (HPD)/Law Enforcement Agencies
Other Government Agencies
Victim/Witnesses
General Public - not witness or victim
Legislators
Crime Prevention Groups
Private Law Enforcement Groups (security)
TRAINING: Intra -Office Personnel
Police Department, i.e., police recruits, recall training
Other law enforcement agencies, i.e., DLNR
Public/Private Agencies, i.e., CPS, DHS, SANE, Hospitals,
Fire Department, DOE
Students in Mock Trial Program
ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS:
Parole Hearings
MISCELLANEOUS:
Public Speaking
Committee meetings/membership
Networking with other agencies
Public education/relations
Interagency assistance
Deputy prosecutors provide ongoing assistance to police by carrying pagers for
after hour calls regarding potential criminal charging of defendants and review of search
warrant affidavits. Calls from Hawaii County Police Department are received at all hours
of the night. Deputy prosecutors rotate on call duty and all supervisors are required to
carry pagers and remain available to the police and other deputy prosecutors for
consultation on cases after hours. The number of after hour calls average 15 per week
with deputy prosecutors on pager duty approximately 600 hours per week.
Deputies typically spend time beyond the normal 8 hour day to complete the work
needed on their cases. The range of hours expended varies depending on the needs of the
case, whether the case is in trial, trial preparation, whether witnesses can be contacted
during business hours and the like. On average, the attorney's unit spends over 170 hours
per week over the normal work week. Overtime hours range from 90 hours to in excess
of 250 hours in any given week.
Career Criminal Prop am
Historically, the Career Criminal Program was established pursuant to chapter,
845, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and revised October 1980 and October 1985. It's purpose
was quick identification, prosecution, and conviction of those persons making a career of
crime. The reason the State Legislature enacted the career criminal statute was because it
found that a substantial and disproportionate amount of serious crime was being
committed against the people by a relatively small number of multiple and repeat felony
offenders. The vision was that sentences for these career criminals would meaningfully
guarantee the community their right of security and protection. Focus is then on the
offender, and not simply the crime.
From the onset, the objectives have been incarceration of the criminal at all stages
of the criminal justice process; conviction on the most serious charge, whether by plea or
trial; expedited processing of cases; and maximum incarceration of convicted career
criminals.
Individuals subject to career criminal prosecution efforts as provided in Chapter
845 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes include those who:
1. Have 2 or more felony convictions within the last 5 years
2. Have 1 or more felony conviction and 2 or more misdemeanor convictions
and/or arrests within the last 3 years
3. Have been convicted and/or arrested for the offense of felon in possession of a
firearm within the last 5 years
4. Are on parole
5. Are on probation
6. Are on bond awaiting appeal
7. Are on bond awaiting a trial
8. Are known or suspected to be an associate of organized crime
9. Are known or suspected of recurring or ongoing criminal activity
10. Have no adult record but have an extensive juvenile record
11. Are juveniles with extensive records who have been waived to the circuit
court for trial
In the early years of the program, the specialized unit functioned via vertical
prosecution with two deputies, three clerical and one investigator. In the late 1980's four
deputies, two clerical, and one investigator were added. Since the acquisition of a legal
assistant in 1993 two positions have remained vacant due to decreased state funding.
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The objectives of the unit have not changed. It is still to arrest, charge and
incarcerate career criminals as quickly as possible. Once incarcerated, our goal is to keep
them in jail, pretrial and after sentencing.
In order to meet our goals, a CCP deputy is accessible by pager 24 hours a day.
Personal contact is maintained with the Criminal Investigation Division of the Hawaii
County Police Department through an expedited conferral process to get the career
criminal cases quickly into our system. We also do the following to achieve our goals:
• Assign experienced attorneys to the CCP cases;
• Begin early tracking of high risk juveniles who most likely will be considered
CCP defendants as adults;
• Increase the number of arrested and charged cases involving CCP defendants;
• Request high bail or commitment without bail;
• Immediately file revocations of bail and revocations of supervised release;
• File motions for enhanced sentencings such as mandatory minimum terms,
consecutive terms of imprisonment, and extended terms of imprisonment.
Our communities need to feel safe from these criminals, and the only way to do
that is to devote a special unit to prosecute them aggressively and expeditiously. We
have done that, and we pledge to continue our efforts with the continued financial support
of the legislature.
Circuit Court
The Circuit Court Units of the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney services three
courtrooms, one in Kona and two in Hilo. The Kona office unit is comprised of four
attorneys and the Hilo unit is comprised of five. These units are responsible for the
prosecution of all felonies within the County of Hawaii for crimes ranging from theft
cases to the most vicious homicides. Felony cases consist of any case where there is the
possibility of a state prison sentence, while misdemeanor cases can subject the defendant
to a period of up to one year in jail. Defendants in misdemeanor cases are entitled to jury
trials. When such a request is made the circuit court unit is responsible for the
prosecution of misdemeanor jury trials.
The unit continues to actively prosecute these cases. The bulk of cases result in a
plea of guilty or no contest by the defendant but must still be prepared as if the case were
to be tried by a jury. The preparation of the case often results in its disposition short of
trial. Defendants do not have to plead guilty to any crime and can insist that this office
prove their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury or to a judge.
The Circuit Court Unit is also responsible for a variety of other matters including
all appeals from felony convictions, writ practice in both Federal and State Court,
evidentiary hearings relating to motions in felony and misdemeanor cases that are set for
jury trial, felony sentencing proceedings, probation revocation hearings, parole board
hearings, assistance to the Police Department with officer training, review of search
warrants, and after hour pager duty.
District Court
The Hawaii County Prosecutor's Office covers seven district courts islandwide.
Two and a half deputies in East Hawaii, one in North Hawaii and two in West Hawaii,
handle all of the misdemeanor and traffic cases for Hawaii County. District Court
deputies spend approximately 1/4 to 1/3 of their time processing traffic violations on
calendars as well as in trials.
District court deputies handle a total of 97 traffic/criminal calendars per month
islandwide. These calendars do not include the misdemeanor domestic violence cases as
those are heard on different days in East Hawaii. The traffic/criminal calendars cover
every type of crime/violation from barking dogs, and no-fault insurance to assaults, drug
cases, criminal property damage and also include regulatory violations from the
Department of Land and Natural Resources, the State Harbors Division, the Department
of Transportation and other departments.
Family Court
The Office of the Prosecuting Attorney continues to assign one Hilo and one
Kona deputy to handle Family Court cases. Additionally, our North Hawaii deputy
handles all of the Family Court cases for the Hamakua, North and South Kohala areas.
The goals of the Family Court unit are:
Early identification by all participants of the criminal justice system;
• Expedited processing through the criminal justice system;
• intense monitoring of a juvenile's criminal activity and more meaningful
sentencing;
• Maintaining a network with other agencies to exchange information on gang
identification, gang activities and case dispositions. These agencies include
probation, police, Department of Education, Family Court and other private
agencies;
Promoting prevention programs through schools and Community organizations.
Forfeiture Project
The State Forfeiture Law, Chapter 712A of the Hawaii Revised Statutes, as
amended, is intended to impose economic sanctions on persons for the profits derived
from criminal activity. The instrumentality used or intended to be used to facilitate the
commission of covered offenses can be forfeited. The Forfeiture Program is
administered by the State Attorney General's Office. Forfeitures can be processed
administratively by the State Attorney General's Office or judicially (for real estate and
other high value assets).
Successful forfeiture prosecutions are joint efforts by the Hawaii County Police
Department, the Prosecutor's Office, and the Department of the Attorney General. The
Police and Prosecutor's Office each receive 25% of the forfeited asset after the asset is
sold. These monies or forfeited items may be used for law enforcement purposes and
cannot be used to supplant the County's budget. In fiscal year 2002 the Office processed
a total of $289,117 worth of assets for forfeiture and received $34,467 of those proceeds.
Our goal is to continue efforts to forfeit assets acquired through illegal activity or
used for illegal activity. Forfeitures take the profitability out of illegal activity and places
the asset or the proceeds from the assets to use for law enforcement. We have found that
forfeitures are an effective deterrent to criminal activity.
Presently, forfeitures are done part-time by one attorney, a legal assistant and a
secretary. They manage all forfeiture cases and network with local police, the Attorney
General's Office, Federal drug enforcement agencies, and the Federal Postal Forfeiture
Unit.
Our office has networked with State law enforcement agencies on the mainland
when defendants have been active in illegal drug activities both here and in other states.
We have initiated and participated in a joint effort with the Federal DEA on seizures from
major drug dealers. Statistics reflect that this effort has also brought thousands of dollars
to the County of Hawaii from forfeited assets giving the County of Hawaii additional
funds for law enforcement purposes.
Domestic Violence Unit
Two attorneys, one each in Hilo and Kona, are specially assigned to prosecute
domestic violence cases in District Family Court. These cases principally involve abuse
of family or household member and violation of an order for protection charges. Another
attorney is also specially assigned to handle domestic violence cases in Circuit Family
Court.
The primary benefits to specially assigning deputies to these cases are: 1) prompt
intervention by our office; 2) deputies knowledge of the background of repeat offenders
and victims; 3) consistency in the prosecution of the cases; and 4) familiarity of the DPA
with people and agencies that are involved in the area of domestic violence.
Violence Against Children Unit (VAC)
One deputy prosecuting attorney, an investigator, a victim assistance counselor
and a legal clerk are specially trained to handle child victims of physical and sexual
abuse. This unit extends to concepts of protection for the community by better protecting
children and holding offenders accountable by improved interagency response.
Unfortunately the victim assistance counselor position remains vacant due to lack of
present grant funding.
Violence Against Women
One deputy is federally funded to handle the misdemeanor domestic violence jury
trials and sexual assault and violent crime cases committed against women in East
Hawaii. This provides modified vertical prosecution which ensures that the primary
benefits to the victim provided by the Domestic Violence unit continue in Circuit Court
cases.
Community Gun Violence
Two deputies are partially funded by a federal Gun Violence Prosecution grant.
The objective of the designated gun violence deputies in East and West Hawaii is to
improve prosecution of violent gun crimes in a rapid, responsive and effective manner.
VICTIM/WITNESS ASSISTANCE UNIT (VAU)
The State established victim -witness assistance programs in the Department of the
Attorney General to be implemented by the County prosecutors under HRS 28-111 "to
provide information, assistance, and support services to the victims of and witnesses to
crimes committed in the state."
HRS 801 D, more commonly known as the Victims' Bill of Rights, recognized the
civil and moral duty of victims and witnesses to cooperate with law enforcement and
prosecutorial agencies, and the importance of such cooperation for the general
effectiveness and well being of the criminal justice system of this State. HRS 801D also
declared the intent to ensure that all victims and witnesses of crimes are treated with
dignity, respect, courtesy and sensitivity, and that the rights are honored and protected in
a manner no less vigorous than the protections afforded criminal defendants.
The victim counselors provide a multitude of services to victims, their significant
others, and witnesses of crimes to minimize the oftentimes adverse impact of the criminal
justice system. The services include, but are not limited to, notification of case and
offender status, court procedure orientation, court accompaniment to provide support,
assistance with criminal injuries compensation, property return, assistance with victim
input for sentencing, plea agreements, and Parole Board minimum term hearings,
transportation, emergency services (food, clothing, shelter, restraining orders),
intercession with employers and creditors, referrals, short term and crisis counseling,
making travel and other arrangements for returning witnesses, witness coordination to
lessen the amount of time spent waiting at court, providing a secure waiting area for
witnesses away from defendants, providing support during interviews of victims of child
abuse, domestic violence, sex assault and other sensitive cases in addition to other
services to deputies, presentations to community organizations and training to other
agencies. The counselors also coordinate witnesses at grand jury hearings, provide
support and information to witnesses and call in returns and changes to the indictment.
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The clerical staff of the unit are responsible for providing clerical support to the
counselors and the coordinator. In addition, the Senior Clerk -Stenographer makes travel
arrangements for returning witnesses and program staff.
The Unit is staffed by fifteen positions: five funded by the Federal Victims of
Crime Act grant, six by the State Victim/Witness grant and four by the County. Present
positions are as follows:
County - Coordinator - Hilo
Counselor I1 - Hilo
Counselor II - Kona
Counselor I - Hilo
Federal - Counselor II — Hilo
Counselor lI — Hilo (vacant)
Clerk 11— Hilo
Clerk 11- Kona
Counselor I — Kona
Counselor I — Hilo (previously State funded)
Clerk III — Kona (previously State funded)
Clerk -Stenographer — Hilo (previously State funded)
State - Counselor Il - Kona
Counselor II - Hilo
Counselor 1 - Hilo (vacant)
Sr. Clerk Steno - Hilo
During the last six months of 2002, the unit provided services to 3,295 people.
The office has developed a victim notification system where victims are now
automatically notified when a case is referred to the office and when trial, change of
pleas, and sentencings are scheduled. Over 4,397 notification letters were sent out in
2002.
The Victim Assistance Unit is the only program that is available to ALL victims
and witnesses of crime. The Unit's services directly benefit the people of Hawaii
County. As a result of cuts to the State Victim Witness program and in an effort to
maintain continuity of service, the Unit has had to transfer funding of several State
position to the federal grant. This has impacted our ability to provide subgrants to direct
service providers. Any further cuts to State or Federal funding will result in reduction of
staff.
It
INVESTIGATIONS UNIT
The Investigations Unit consists of seven investigators. Five are county funded,
one is funded under the State Career Criminal Program (CCP) grant and one is federally
funded by the Community Oriented Prosecution project.
The CCP investigator is assigned all cases that involve offenders that qualify as a
career criminal under the Hawaii Revised Statutes. This allows the investigator to
concentrate on assisting solely in the preparation of cases for these types of offenders.
The VACA investigator is assigned all felony cases where a violent act has been
committed against a child victim.
Generally, this unit conducts follow-up investigations in a variety of cases, from
simple to the most complex and confidential in nature. The primary responsibility of the
unit is to assist the attorneys in preparing cases for trial. This includes: conducting
investigations on cases referred to the office by the Hawaii County Police Department,
preparing exhibits for courtroom presentations, locating and securing the testimony of
expert witnesses, coordinating appearance of witnesses at trial and monitoring bench
warrants.
In addition, the unit is also responsible for assisting in locating and apprehension
of fugitives. The unit, with the cooperation and assistance of the Hawaii County Police
Department and other law enforcement agencies locally, nationally and internationally,
attempts to locate and return fugitives back to Hawaii County.
LEGAL CLERICAL UNIT
The Office of the Prosecuting Attorney has the largest legal clerical staff in
Hawaii County with seventeen clerical employees in the Hilo Office, five clerical
employees in the Kona Office, and one island -wide supervisor. The unit provides
assistance to office attorneys and investigators. Administration and the Victim
Assistance Unit have their own clerical staff. Responsibilities are as follows:
Hilo: 5 positions for District Court (Hilo, Puna, South Kohala, Hamakua)
2 positions for Family Court (Hilo, Puna, South Kohala, Hamakua, Ka'u)
5 positions for Circuit Court (Hilo, Puna, Ka'u, South Kohala, Hamakua)
1 position for Grand Jury (Hilo)
I Receptionist
Kona: 2 positions for District Court & Family Court (Kona, North Kohala)
3 positions for Circuit Court (Kona, North Kohala) & Grand Jury (Kona)
1 position for Community Oriented Prosecution
South Kohala: no clerical position
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Unique demands placed upon the legal clerical staff- time constraints, ever-
increasing court requirements, and the public's and other agencies' demands for more
services done in less time - continue to strain the unit. Over the past several years there
has been a significant increase in the volume of cases, without a corresponding increase
in clerical staff. They continue to work diligently to handle the volume, however, the
current level of staffing does not provide for spikes in workload or coverage. This
ongoing situation affects morale, accuracy and efficiency. It also affects our ability to
retain and recruit staff.
In addition to doing traditional legal work, the clerical staff is responsible for
input and update of case information to the Office's File Access Case Tracking System
(FACTS). FACTS is utilized by staff as well as by Police, Public Safety and some
branches of the Judiciary. An average of 360 to 400 new charges are input weekly once
cases are referred from the Police Department or when defendants are detained pending
arraignment. Traffic citations are not generally input into the system until the offender
elects to go to trial. This then requires input to the case tracking system and additional
processing, including creation of case files, processing of discovery, and issuing
subpoenas to witnesses. Throughout, computer tracking input must be done to document
the status, file location, and calendar disposition of each case.
As Hawaii County's economy has declined, an increasing number of defendants
have been unable to make restitution payments, pay fines or do required community
service. This results in their returning to District Court prompting further tracking by our
clerical staff. The increase in contempt of court charges, domestic abuse cases, and
defendants requesting legal counsel also requires additional processing by legal clerks.
It has been difficult for our Kona clerical staff to keep up with the rising number
of cases, and over the past three years we have shifted work to the Hilo office to provide
assistance. Through active recruitment by our Volunteer Services Coordinator, we have
utilized volunteers to provide much needed assistance. While their assistance is greatly
appreciated, the general short-term nature and constant training required places additional
demands on the staff.
Our office is the largest litigation office in Hawaii County. We are proud of our
clerical staffs professionalism and the contribution they make to our litigation efforts.
Along with the other support units, the clerical staff provide quality legal services to the
public.
SPECIAL PROJECTS
In an effort to proactively address public safety issues and improve the criminal
justice system in the County of Hawaii, the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney has been
actively involved in several initiatives that include: Drug Court, Balanced and
Restorative Justice, and Victim -Offender Mediation. In addition the Office has
implemented the Community Oriented Prosecution, Community Empowerment
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Organization and Youth Builders projects which involve collaboration among agencies
and the community.
Community Oriented Prosecution (COPT
The Community Oriented Prosecution project is comprised of two deputy
prosecuting attorneys, one investigator and one clerk. The project's goal is to develop
proactive partnerships with law enforcement, the community and public and private
organizations to increase community involvement in the criminal justice system. The
COP team provides education, motivation, organization and mobilization to these groups
and utilizes innovative approaches to address problems and to improve the quality of life
in the community.
Accomplishments through the first project year include:
• Provided education and training on criminal law, court procedures, search and
seizure,and landlord -tenant issues.
• Developed with Community Police Officers (CPO) a method to identify community
defendants so all parties involved in the case would be better informed and given the
opportunity to provide group input regarding sentencing conditions.
• Meeting with CPOs monthly to discuss community concerns and areas of
accomplishments. This effort has resulted in placing barricades on dead end streets
and roadways to prevent gatherings and youth parties in neighborhoods and placing
speed bumps on roadways.
• Participated on the Vicious Dog task force and Building Code Violation work group.
• Organized and initiated meetings with the Chief of Police, Corporation Counsel,
Community Empowerment Organization, and representatives from a major
landowner to improve monitoring of tenants who were suspected of drug activity.
• Met with Neighborhood Watch Groups in the evenings/weekends to identify
community concerns, resources available, and feasibility and priority of issues.
• Project deputies deputized as Special Assistant U.S. attorneys to assist in prosecuting
cases involving firearms.
Through these effective partnerships and activities communities take an active part in
decreasing crime, feel safer and take ownership in solving their community problems. A
safer community will not be a perception but a reality.
Community Empowerment Organization (CEO)
The CEO project is a federally funded demonstration project that ends in April
2003. It's mission has been, "To create and enhance safe and healthy communities
through diverse partnerships".
Each of the nine judicial districts has had a contract facilitator who is a
community member with a background in involvement with local issues and an ability to
conduct meetings and communicate at a grass roots level. Working closely with the
Prosecutor's Office, Community Policing Officers in each district, and with
Neighborhood Watch chapters island wide community problems have been identified and
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addressed. What is unique about this process is that the community defines the problem
and their own portion of the solution before approaching the county departments. This
has fostered positive and creative relationships and decreased cynicism on both sides. In
addition, a number of community education forums were held and task forces formed to
tackle issues of local concern.
Although the project is ending, the mechanism and task forces are in place to
continue the process for regular meetings with the Resource Team.
Youth Builders: A Comprehensive Approach to Juvenile Justice
The "Youth Builders" emerged as a project funded by federal Juvenile
Accountability Incentive Block grant (JAIBG) funds. The planning groups are working
to identify system gaps and to create a seamless web of integrated supervision, service
and support for our youth. The comprehensive strategic planning approach, both as a
process and as a documented product, represents the first time that collaboration of this
scale has occurred in Hawai'i County.
Implementation of the Youth Builders strategic plan began in June 2002 and since
then, the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney has continued to facilitate meetings,
disseminate information, and form partnerships between community, business, and
government organizations in an effort to secure a better future for our children.
Following is a list of collaborations and projects currently in progress as a result
of the Youth Builders project:
• Development of an Intake and Assessment Center for youth.
• Bay Clinic's Youth Anti -Drug Program "Pulama I Na Opio"
• Assessment of juvenile delinquency prevention/early intervention programs in the
County of Hawaii (COH)
• Assessment of Graduated sanctions in the COH
• Anti-drug youth health fair "Healthy Today Happy Tomorrow" Held January 4,
2003
• Career fair "Follow Your Yellow Brick Road" held March 6, 2003
• Title V Community Prevention Grant
• NFL Pro Bowl Youth Clinics
• Summer job/intern/education/volunteer fair "Summer Opportunities Expo"
Scheduled for April 15, 2003
• Transportation initiative for Puna, Holo Holo O Puna
The diverse team comprised of government leaders, public and private groups, schools,
law enforcement, youth and community members have created a blueprint for
collaboration with sustainable and measurable results. To date over $3 million dollars
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has come to the County of Hawaii to support the initiatives and priorities identifed by
Youth Builders. It is anticipated that the philosophical approach and constructive process
will help to improve the social, economic and academic environment for Hawaii County
youth.
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