Hawaii County Police Chief Paul Ferreira says County Police are continuing appropriate enforcement of the Governor’s Third Supplementary Emergency Proclamation, dated March 23, 2020, which is the “stay at home” order, and contains specific penalties for violation.

Hawai‘i Police Department has continued enforcement of this order when appropriate, primarily in cases of non-compliance after verbal warnings or when in conjunction with unrelated calls for service.

During the second week spanning (April 1-7, 2020), specific to the offense of “Prohibited Acts” (Emergency Management), Hawaiʻi Police Department officers arrested 14 persons, cited 32 persons, and initiated criminal cases against 4 persons (total of 50 violations), broken down by district as follows:

• South Hilo District: 8 persons arrested, 13 persons cited, 2 criminal cases initiated
• Kona District: 2 persons arrested, 4 persons cited
• North Kohala District: 2 persons arrested, 3 persons cited, 2 criminal cases initiated
• Puna District: 1 persons arrested, 5 persons cited
• South Kohala District: 7 persons cited
• Kaʻū District: 1 person arrested

During this past week:  Other unrelated criminal offenses, which prompted the police response and subsequent arrest of the suspects, involved Burglary, Theft, Trespassing, Contempt Warrant, Open Lewdness, Obstruction, Tro Violation, 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, reckless driving, and congregating/loitering at a closed park or beach area.

On O’ahu, Honolulu Police Deputy John McCarthy said on Tuesday in a press conference with Mayor Caldwell “As of today we’ve decided to move forward with full enforcement rather than warnings,”  and added that the public had been given warning enough.  Oahu Police issued more than 5,000 warnings over the previous two weeks, issued 353 citations,  and made 26 arrests.  O’ahu’s population is around 1.3 million people.   And the bulk of the visitors who have arrived in the state since the mandatory 14-day quarantine was put in effect have landed on O’ahu.

 Governor David Ige’s Third Supplementary Emergency Proclamation, dated (March 23, 2020), Section 1, orders that:

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/identifyingcritical-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 o f 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:

F.  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.