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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.R. NO. |
124 |
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THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2020 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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HOUSE RESOLUTION
requesting the attorney general to convene a task force to study the reporting, prosecution, and conviction rate of hate crimes in the state.
WHEREAS, hate crimes are defined as any criminal act in which the perpetrator intentionally selected a victim because of hostility toward the actual or perceived race, religion, disability, ethnicity, national origin, gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation of any person; and
WHEREAS, the Department of the Attorney General is responsible for the collection, storage, dissemination, and analysis of all hate crime data from all agencies that have primary investigative, action, or program responsibility for adult or juvenile offenses, including the county police departments, the county prosecutors, the family courts, and the departments or agencies responsible for administering any correctional facilities; and
WHEREAS, the Department of the Attorney General currently only includes data based on convictions in its annual report of hate crime data submitted to the Governor, Judiciary, Department of Public Safety, and Legislature; and
WHEREAS, based on this rendering of statistics, only two hate crimes were reported for the State in the most recent annual report; and
WHEREAS, hate crime data acquired by the county police departments indicates that the number of crimes initially flagged as hate crimes greatly exceeds the number reported by the Attorney General; and
WHEREAS, there appears to be a disconnect between the number of crimes initially reported as hate crimes and those that are eventually included in the Attorney General's report; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirtieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2020, that the Attorney General is requested to convene a task force to study the progression of hate crime investigations and prosecutions from the initial police report to the closing of the case; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to make recommendations on improvements to be made in the prosecution and comprehensive reporting of hate crimes; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force membership is requested to include a representative of the Department of the Attorney General, a representative of each county police department, a representative of each county office of the prosecuting attorney, and four representatives from agencies that have investigative, detention, custodial, adjudicative, or program responsibility for adult or juvenile offenses; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than forty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2021; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Attorney General, Prosecuting Attorney of each county, and Chief of Police of each county.
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OFFERED BY: |
_____________________________ |
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Hate Crime Task Force