The message is clear on the side of this Honolulu Police Department cruiser. Photos by Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
The message is clear on the side of this Honolulu Police Department cruiser. Photos by Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
The Star-Bulletin survey done with computers that combed more than 850,000 records from the state Criminal Justice Data Center, shows that Maui gets a guilty verdict for 76 percent of the women arrested for DUI and 74 percent of the males.
Honolulu, by comparison, wins convictions 71 percent of the time for both men and women.
Kauai has the lowest conviction rate, only 63 percent of the men and women arrested are convicted, according to Criminal Justice Data Center figures.
Hawaii County had a 67 percent conviction rate for women and 65 percent for men.
On a statewide basis: Of 80,495 arrests for DUI between 1979 and 1995, 56,728 were found guilty, a 70.4 percent conviction rate. The numbers are for cases that have been completed and had a final court ruling.
Although the public may not be aware of the differing conviction rates between islands, Mothers Against Drunk Driving recently honored the Maui Police Department for its efforts.
"We should follow the lead of Maui, they are doing a great job," said Theresa Paulette, president of the Hawaii MADD chapter.
"They are very innovative. Chief (Howard) Tagomori is very receptive to the new ideas. It is effective and it shows in the community."
The five-person Maui DUI team won a special police award and Tagomori won the MADD president's award.
Carol McNamee, founder of MADD's local chapter, also heaped praise, saying Maui is using the latest techniques to stop drunken drivers.
"They are innovative and doing more with less resources," she said.
Part of the reason for the Valley Isle's success was the move four years ago to use video cameras to tape DUI arrests.
Lt. Charles Hirata said Maui police have videotaped 300 arrests since the program started in 1992.
"We have lost only about four of those," he said.
On Oahu, with the largest part of the state's population and the largest number of DUI arrests, the police started to use video cameras in January. They are finding taping pays off in convictions.
Honolulu Police Department Capt. Mike Hama drives in a police car equipped with a video camera. The camera is mounted to the right of the rear-view mirror; the monitor is on the center console.
Police Maj. Barbara Wong reports that police have yet to lose a conviction after the suspect is videotaped during the road exam.
The tape is given to the prosecutor's office.
But "when people get a chance to view the tape, and see what they really looked like, they almost always change their plea," Hirata said.
The camera is mounted to the inside roof of the police cars. Police officers can start the tape rolling by turning a switch inside their cars or by just flipping the key on their microphone.
When a suspects watches himself "slurring and staggering on and off the line" during a field soberity check, Hirata said, they just fold.
The camera also helps if the case goes to court because police can use it to show videos of the car weaving down the road before it is pulled over.
"It adds to our case that there was probable cause and a reasonable suspicion," Hirata said.
On Oahu, Wong is hoping that with increased training, HPD officers will be able to increase the conviction rate.
To help, police are running classes with prosecutors and even defense attorneys, showing officers how to answer questions when they testify in court.
This, she said, will help increase Oahu's conviction rate and fewer cases are dismissed.
A computer check of the state's criminal statistics by county for last year show that between 26 percent and 37 percent of those arrested for DUI are not convicted. The dismissal rate, here and across the state, is a continuing worry for McNamee.
"The number of persons who are not found guilty is a frustration, because they will never believe they did anything wrong until they are pronounced guilty," she said.
Then if they are arrested and convicted later it will be classified as a first offense, she said.
Wong pointed out that HPD is having more success with a new law that makes habitual DUI - three DUI convictions - a felony, punishable by a jail sentence. "We started in October and have had 32 arrests so far," she said.
