HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0363.000 2004-2006 Phone: (808) 961-8263
BOB JACOBSON Fax: (808) 961-8912
Councilmember Email:jjaco a(~co.hawaii.hi.us
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HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL
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To the Honorable Stacy Higa u'io Jm~,ar ~ v6?ao ~'~a^~' ~n~,
Hawaii County Council Chair
Re: Concerns about unchecked police powers
Dear Stacy,
At the meeting of the Council on June 15, 2005 in Kona, discussion was held regazding a
police job description and the mandates of an officer working in an anti-youth gang
position: "Maintains surveillance of subversive and radical elements in the community,
attends and controls demonstrations, rallies, and meetings, and observes, records and
reports on happenings..." It is my concern that this overly broad and ambiguous mandate
has, can and will, lead to abuse of powers, unwarranted harassments and arrests of law
abiding citizens and leave the County open to liability issues. The "War on Drugs" znd
the Patriot Act should not be excuses for continuing this practice unchecked.
The public and the Council need to have a clear accounting of whaC has been happening
in the past and present, and to control the potential for problems of abuse of police
powers in the future. We need to have a comprehensive accounting of the actions and
policies of our police, in regards to what information is being gathered in non-criminal
investigations; what information has been gathered on whom, who has access to this
information, how this information is being stored, shared and used, and who detennines
who is "radical and subversive", or somehow worthy of this spying on law abiding
citizens of our County. There is a real and urgent need to change police job descriptions
to comply with the U.S. Constitution and the laws of the U.S. "Radical and subversive"
are objective terms without enforceability. Having measurable, consistent, definable, and
enforceable rules that mandate police to monitor criminal behavior is appropriate.
Corporation Counsel Lincoln Ashida, in the HTH article of June 22, 2005, asserts that
police abuses may occur but also world peace may break out. I would say that while this
may be true, there is no recent history of world peace, however there is a long history of
police abuses of power. Which is more likely and common, world peace or abuse of
powers by the police?
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DisTric! h -Upper Punu, Ku'µ and South Kona Ref. To: f 1' K,.V
Hurval'i County /s An Equa[ Opportunity Provider And Employer
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July 11, 2005
To the Honorable Stacy Higa
Hawaii County Council Chair
Page 2
The reality is that the language used, "radical and subversive" is completely ambiguous, 1
would even suggest unconstitutionally ambiguous. The terms, "radical and subversive",
have been used for years and were the gateway for FBI intrusion half a century ago. For
the purposes of our needs, "radical and subversive" conduct can (and should) be defined
as; Conduct of an individual or individuals that the police department has
reasonable grounds to believe may be in violation of criminal statutes.
I offer the following example; My minister's 70+ year old wife (and others) was searched
when arrested for her participation in a peaceful rally at the Wao Kele O Puna
Geothermal demonstration. The County was forced to settle with these Hawaii County
Police victims. Jack Branton accepted a settlement with the County of Hawaii regarding
illegal surveillance. When the settlement was voted on, I asked Corporation Counsel Staff
directly if the policies were going to stop these abuses and change the police rules to
prevent this from happening again. The settlement that the County signed stated that
these policies would change. I was told that this would never happen again. Now I find
these rules and job descriptions were never revised, policies remain the same as they
were, and that our Police Chief has stated to the press that he has no intention of changing
anything-
I have no reason to believe that any police leadership can fully control officers without
equal, consistent, clear, strict, written, and enforceable standards to base their
performance on. That is why our rules and policies must strive to protect our citizens
from potential abuses. If we continue to have regulations and job descriptions that permit
government authorities to abuse their powers, we can count on some people abusing
those powers sooner or later. I would encourage the Council to exercise its powers of
oversight and policymaking entrusted to us by the citizens of this County, which are
clearly written in the Charter, or we shall certainly loose those powers.
Thanks for your interest in trying to resolve my concerns.
Sincerely,
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