HONOLULU (AP) — A city prosecutor in Honolulu is asking lawmakers to decriminalize certain petty offenses, saying they’re clogging courts.
HONOLULU (AP) — A city prosecutor in Honolulu is asking lawmakers to decriminalize certain petty offenses, saying they’re clogging courts.
Hawaii News Now reports (https://bit.ly/1UYHN4Y ) that prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro says deputies are too busy chasing misdemeanor cases, such as homeless people violating park curfews, that more serious crimes are getting missed.
Police have issued 358 sit-lie citations and more than 6,000 park rules tickets, most of which involved being in parks after closing hours.
Kaneshiro says many of those cited don’t even show up for court, wasting more time. He has asked the city council to let some petty violations be settled with fines through the mail, or to have a community court that deals exclusively with homeless issues.