HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

44

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2005

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

requesting the Honolulu police department increase the number of criminal property damage arrests.

 

 

WHEREAS, there were 72 arrests made for 476 cases of graffiti in 2004 for the City and County of Honolulu; and

WHEREAS, criminal charges are brought against those convicted of graffiti based on the value and degree of the property that was lost or damaged; and

WHEREAS, under Hawaii Revised Statutes sections 708-820 and 708-821, a person commits property damage in the first and second degrees respectively, when a person knowingly or intentionally damages the property of another person without his or her consent, in an amount exceeding $20,000 or $1,500 respectively; and

WHEREAS, criminal property damage in the first degree also includes an element of intentionally or knowingly damaging property and thereby recklessly placing another person in danger of death or bodily harm, thereby carrying a maximum imprisonment time of ten years; and

WHEREAS, criminal property damage in the third degree is misdemeanor in the third degree, resulting from the damage of property in an amount exceeding $500 with a maximum imprisonment time of one year; and

WHEREAS, criminal property damage in the fourth degree is a petty misdemeanor carrying with it a maximum of 30 days in prison; and

WHEREAS, a majority of graffiti crimes fall into the third degree and fourth degree offenses of criminal property damage; and

WHEREAS, an increase in the number of graffiti arrests would do much to curb the number of incidences of criminal property damage in varying degrees; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, that the House of Representatives requests the Honolulu Police Department to make every effort necessary to increase the number of arrests made for offenses related to criminal property damage in varying degrees, according to Hawaii Revised Statues 708-820 to 708-823; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chief of Police of the Honolulu Police Department.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Requesting HPD to increase the number of graffiti arrests