![]() That could mean a warning, citation or arrest. By email, she said it applies to all violations, not just those related to the mayor’s pandemic orders.Īsked if other districts have ticket quotas, she said there are no particular goals for each district but that officers are supposed to take action when they observe violations. Yu declined to be interviewed about the quota. Shortly before the beaches and parks closed last month, at least one of HPD’s eight districts implemented a citation quota.Ī July 23 memo titled “DISTRICT 7 MOVING FORWARD” said that effective immediately, the 18 officers in East Honolulu would be expected to meet a “daily performance goal” of two citations per day, according to a copy of the notice obtained by Civil Beat. The current order restricts visits to beaches and parks to solo activity, but the mayor has indicated he may allow gatherings of up to five next week. ![]() “These teams follow up on information that’s called in to the hotline and check areas, such as beaches and parks, for violations.” “The increase in the number of citations is largely due to the creation of COVID enforcement teams,” said HPD spokeswoman Michelle Yu by email. At a press conference, Ballard said officers would be taking a new tack and a nnounced the formation of a 160-officer team that would patrol the island seven days a week for “strategic enforcements.” HPD also introduced a phone number and email address citizens can use to report scofflaws. 6 that he would shut down parks, beaches and trails for the second time. But in August, there was a major shift in strategy. In July, there were only 255 citations issued, according to the court’s data. Last month, Chief Susan Ballard announced a hotline for residents to report alleged violators. ![]() The prospect of a criminal record is a scary experience for those who have been cited. People found in violation are guilty of a misdemeanor, which is punishable by a fine of up to $5,000, up to a year in jail or both. “Female was stopped and cited for park closure.”Įveryone who receives a citation gets a court date, which can be attended via Zoom. “While on routine patrol, I observed a female exercising inside Waipio Neighborhood Park,” one officer wrote. The narrative descriptions on some citations document innocuous activity. When officers asked him where he was going, he said he was just “driving around.” He was cited for engaging in nonessential activity. One man was pulled over for an alleged traffic violation, his citation shows. Officers have issued citations to individuals walking alone outside, parents at the beach with their own children and to homeless people who live outdoors. “This is detrimental to people’s health, and it makes no sense.”Ī review of court records yielded numerous citations that seem to have little to do with protecting public health. “This is very abusive,” said Patrick Steinemann who was cited in Kailua last month when he was riding through a park by himself. However, his strategy is causing anger and stress among residents. The mountain of citations illustrates how Caldwell has embraced the police department as a tool for addressing the pandemic. The busiest month was April with 5,648 citations.įast forward to now: Officers handed out 5,000 citations just last weekend, Mayor Kirk Caldwell said this week. ![]() For comparison, from March through July, HPD issued only 9,465 coronavirus-related citations, according to the court’s log. So we switched to more enforcement.” HPD is handing out thousands of citations for pandemic-related violations. We actually had more warnings than we did citations. “Well, we did warn from March until August, we had over 11,000 warnings. “A lot of people think we need to do more warnings,” Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard told the Honolulu Police Commission Wednesday as she recited the numbers. It’s more than double the total of all criminal cases the District Court handled in 2019. In the last month alone, the Honolulu Police Department has issued approximately 44,000 citations related to the mayor’s pandemic rules and arrested 65 people for violations. Honolulu police issued a record number of citations in recent weeks, straining the court system, frustrating residents and further calling into question the city’s approach to dealing with the public health crisis.
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