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Public drinkers
face arrest under
Council proposal

The bill allows police to
make arrests instead of
just issuing citations

By Suzanne Tswei
Star-Bulletin

Put away those beer cans because the City Council is considering giving Honolulu police the power to arrest people drinking alcohol in public.

Bill 37 would reinforce a state statute that outlaws public drinking and authorizes Honolulu police to make arrests, said Councilman Duke Bainum, lead author of the bill.

An existing city ordinance allows police to cite violators, and the proposal would change the ordinance to give police the power to arrest violators.

The bill is scheduled for hearing at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday before the Council's Policy Committee.

"The feeling is that the proposal would make the state and the city laws compatible," Bainum said. "The police can already make arrests under state law, but the bill would specifically say they can make arrests (under city ordinance.) It would be another tool they can use."

Police have been trying to solve the problem of public drinking by writing citations, but citations alone may not be effective at times, Bainum said.

"There are situations, when people become belligerent or difficult, that citation is not enough," he said. "In these cases, police need the power to arrest.".

Michelle Matson, chairwoman of the Kapiolani Park Advisory Council and a member of the Diamond Head Neighborhood Board, said such a proposal would help solve the illegal drinking problem in Kapiolani Park.

"It would alleviate the problem, I am sure," Matson said. "I am strongly in favor of the HPD enforcing the law. They need the authority to preclude drinking in the park."

Illegal drinkers can be difficult to disperse even after police warn them, Matson said. Police have been doing a good job curbing public drinking, but they need more than just the ability to write tickets.

"The drinking can go on for hours," Matson said. "You call police, and they stop for a while. But as soon as police leave, they start again and it takes 20 minutes for the police to come back. It's ineffective."

Matson said illegal drinking is particularly noticeable after sports events, and drinking causes sanitation problems.

The streets may be littered with beer bottles and cans, and drinkers may urinate where they please, she said. The trees in Kapiolani Park also have been damaged by burning charcoal left behind.

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http://www.co.honolulu.hi.us