Bill Text: HI HCR121 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Department of Public Safety; Security of Hawaii State Hospital

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-03-16 - (H) Referred to PBM/HLT, FIN, referral sheet 39 [HCR121 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2011-HCR121-Introduced.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	121
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the provision of security at the hawaii state hospital.

 

 

     WHEREAS, the Hawaii State Hospital has suffered budget cuts and reductions in security positions, leaving the hospital vulnerable to escapes and security risks; and

 

     WHEREAS, the high occupancy rate at the hospital, coupled with the budget cuts and security reductions, has compromised and jeopardized the safety of workers and patients at the facility, as well as the surrounding neighborhood and community at-large; and

 

     WHEREAS, the patients at the Hawaii State Hospital, including forensic patients committed to institutionalization by the courts, are considered to be in need of confinement; and

 

     WHEREAS, on average, six escapes per year and numerous assaults upon staff occur at the Hawaii State Hospital; and

 

     WHEREAS, on December 3, 2009, a forensic patient who was committed to the hospital in 2002 after allegedly kidnapping and sexually assaulting a child, escaped, further illustrating the current security situation at the hospital; and

 

     WHEREAS, over a year later, this individual has not been re‑captured; and

 

     WHEREAS, there is a need to clarify that the duties of the Department of Public Safety include security at the Hawaii State Hospital; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-sixth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2011, the Senate concurring, that beginning September 1, 2011, security for the Hawaii State Hospital, which is a secure psychiatric rehabilitation facility, is requested to be provided by the Department of Public Safety in accordance with section 26‑14.6, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health is requested to advise the Department of Public Safety as to the appropriate level of security that must be maintained at the Hawaii State Hospital; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Director of Health, in collaboration with the Director of Public Safety, is requested to submit a report to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2012 detailing the plan, strategies, and timetable for ensuring the provision of appropriate levels of long-term security at the Hawaii State Hospital, along with the short- and long-term strategies and plans to address the State's increasing and aging forensic population at the Hawaii State Hospital, including facility needs, capacity issues, and other off-site options; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Department of Health and the Department of Public Safety.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Department of Public Safety; Security of Hawaii State Hospital