HPD Posts Policies, Including For Use of Force, Online
Police Chief Louis Kealoha says he hopes it will help improve public trust between the community and his department, which has come under intense scrutiny of late.
If you ever wanted to learn more about the Honolulu Police Department’s policy on use of force, bias-based profiling or even its grooming standards, you can now do so simply by going to the agency’s website.
On Friday, the HPD announced it has uploaded each of its more than 250 policies in order to increase departmental transparency.
The Honolulu Police Department’s downtown headquarters.
PF Bentley/Civil Beat
For the past year, the HPD and its leadership has been under intense scrutiny for its handling of several cases, including those in which officers are alleged to have violated protocol or even broken the law. It even caused several lawmakers to introduce bills to impose reform on the department.
“Making our policies available to the public is a necessary and key component of building the community’s trust in HPD,” Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha said in a statement. “As of today, the policies will be available 24/7 on the Internet and free to anyone who wants to review them.”
While the policies cover everything from arrest procedures and drug and alcohol use to domestic violence and officer training, there are certain protocols that have been omitted from the records for security purposes.
According to an HPD press relase, those policies might include sensitive information that could “jeopardize public safety or impede an officer’s ability to respond to critical incidents.”
Nick Grube is a reporter for Civil Beat. You can reach him by email at nick@civilbeat.org or follow him on Twitter at @nickgrube. You can also reach him by phone at 808-377-0246.