Hawaii County Police say that during the third week of the State “stay at home” order, they arrested 17 people and cited 77 people for violating the order. The arrests and citations were primarily in cases of non-compliance after verbal warnings or when in conjunction with unrelated calls for service.
From April 8 through 14, 2020, the offense of “Prohibited Acts” (Emergency Management), Hawaiʻi Police Department were broken down by district as follows:
- South Hilo District: 11 persons arrested, 7 persons cited
- South Kohala District: 3 persons arrested, 8 persons cited
- Kona District: 1 person arrested, 22 persons cited
- Kaʻū District: 1 person arrested, 22 persons cited
- Puna District: 1 person arrested
- North Kohala District: 13 persons cited
- Hāmākua: 5 persons cited
During this past week: Other unrelated criminal offenses, which prompted the police response and subsequent arrest of the suspects, involved Burglary, Assault, Trespassing, Contempt Warrant, Disorderly Conduct, Terroristic Threatening, Resisting order to stop Motor Vehicle, and Operating a Vehicle Under the Influence of Intoxicants/DUI. Some of the behavior exhibited by violators to whom citations were issued consisted of disregarding repeated warning by police, creating a disturbance, traffic/motor vehicle offenses, congregating/loitering on/alongside the road, or at a park/beach area.
The Hawaiʻi Police Department three week combined total enforcement stands at 162 individual offenses (40 arrests, 115 citations issued, and 7 additional cases)
The Governor’s emergency order states: All Persons in the State Must Stay at Home or in Their Place of Residence Pursuant to sections 127A-12(a)(5), 127A-12(a)(14), 127A-13(a)(1), and 127A-13(a)(7), HRS, all persons within the State of Hawaiʻi are ordered to stay at home or in their place of residence except as necessary to maintain continuity of operations of the federal critical infrastructure sectors, as identified at https://www.cisa.gov/identifying-critical-infrastructure-during-covid-19 and as further designated below or by the Director of the Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency (HIEMA).
With respect to persons residing in hotels, condominiums, townhomes, apartments, or other multi-unit dwellings, “place of residence” means the person’s individual hotel room or unit. To the extent, persons use shared or outdoor spaces when outside their residence, they must comply with the social distancing requirements set forth herein to the fullest extent possible. All persons may leave their home or place of residence only for essential activities or to engage in the essential businesses and operations identified herein. This order shall take effect on (March 25, 2020) at 12:01 a.m. and remain in place until 11:59 p.m. on (April 30, 2020).
Sub-section F of the Supplementary Proclamation specifies the penalty associated with violations as follows:
- Criminal Penalties – Any person who intentionally or knowingly violates any provision set forth in this Section I shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction, the person shall be fined not more than $5,000, or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.