Public Safety, Crime & Homelessness
What issues does Angela care about relating to public safety & crime and how has she put her passion into action to enhance protections for children, minors, families & seniors to build safer communities?
2022-2024
Safety Modification at Kapalama Elementary School & Bishop Museum
Angela facilitated a safety modification request at Likelike Highway, Kapalama Elementary School & Bishop Museum. After working with neighbors to understand the safety issues surrounding the school, they proposed it to the City Council. City Council & The Department of Transportation Services were incredibly efficient at responding to the safety of the parents & children by assisting with the installation of speed hump & signage. The team worked on lowering the driving speed to 15 miles per hour so children & parents can walk across to the school campus safely. Safe crosswalks and lower speed limits in front of schools are important because children are more vulnerable around traffic, especially near a highway during busy drop-off and pick-up times when cars, buses, parents & students are all moving at the same time.
Act 144 (2024)
The Child Protective Act
Angela fought to enact Act 144 "The Child Protective Act" legislated by Senator Joy San Buenaventura. After experiences in her neighborhood with homeless encampments & at-risk children, Angela understood the need to have a law in place to intervene in case of an emergency where there are parents that are at high-risk of abuse. This law changes how Hawaii protects children when there is a serious safety concern. Before this law, the rules for when police or the Department of Human Services (DHS) could intervene and remove a child from a home were ambiguous. The Child Protective Act provides statutory authority to intervene during emergency situations. The law amends the definition of imminent danger & exigent circumstances to authorize the DHS or police department to act if a child is seriously abused & neglected. If there is evidence the child is in imminent danger, the law authorizes emergency action.
Act 250 (2024)
Statute of Limitations for
Sexual Abuse of Minors
Angela testified for a public policy to extend the statute of limitations to initiate civil action for childhood sexual abuse. Minors who were sexually abused now have up until 32 years after their 18th birthday to report the abuse. This protects survivors by extending the statute of limitations for civil action by more than 20 years. This act acknowledges there are psychological & emotional reasons to why a child does not report the abuse as a minor and why some wait many years later to report the abuse. As children transition into adulthood, they become more able to open up about difficult experiences because they develop greater emotional maturity, understanding, independence, and language to describe what happened to them.
The act mandates trauma informed care training. This law was proposed by the Women's Legislative Caucus of the State of Hawaii.
2022-2025
Public Safety Team Intiatives
Angela has organized with one of Department of Hawaiian Homeland's Citizens Patrols to conduct safety training in District 30. Mobilizing with the police in District 8 Ewa Beach to work with faith-based programs & incarcerated individuals, Angela has worked with networks to equip & empower the neighborhoods she works with to understand the correct procedures when responding to emergencies with a responsive action plan. As Angela volunteered with many of the formerly incarcerated individuals & prisoners in ministries at local churches, they worked together to provide comments to Statewide public policy to restrict illegal gaming rooms, to lower incarceration rates, to address the overcrowded prison population in facilities and to stop offenders from cycling in and out of recidivism.
She is excited to activate her networks to organize to address the gang violence concerns in KPT & Kam IV neighborhoods due to concerns she has heard from constituents.
SB 278 / HB 385 (2026)
Crimes Against Seniors & State of Mind
Angela believes crimes against seniors need to addressed with stronger penalties to strengthen protections for Hawaii’s senior population from being targeted for violence, theft & fraud. This bill takes into account that many violent assaults occur spontaneously, with little to no evidence or witnesses regarding the state of mind of age for offenders. By removing the state of mind requirement with this bill, it removes a barrier to effective prosecution to have to prove the offender knew the victim's age in order to put offenders behind bars. Under this bill, it does not matter whether the offender knew the victim’s age. The statute applies strict liability to the age element, not the state of mind requirement, meaning awareness of the victim’s age is not required for conviction and is legally irrelevant for conviction. The perpetrator must only intend to commit the assault, and is therefore responsible for the enhanced penalty regardless of whether they knew the victim’s age, as long as the victim is over the age threshold as defined statutorily. The bill raises the age threshold of the victim from 60+ to 65+ and was introduced on behalf of the Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney's package in the House & Senate.
HB 1628 (2026)
Compassionate Release
Angela debated by HB 1628 for compassionate release of the chronically ill to provide dignity to incarcerated individuals.Chronically ill inmates should be considered eligible for compassionate release because there are circumstances surrounding their health where continued incarceration does not serve the goals of justice. Unnecessary suffering, especially when a inmates has a severe medical condition, is elderly, or has a limited life expectancy because of a disability requires emergency medical intervention.
Many of the inmates have been in facilities for so long, their physical & mental health deteriorates because of limited access to proper care and human interaction with family & friends. Being released can help them get proper treatment & support while reintegrating with society to live out their life.
The Oahu Community Correctional Center (OCCC) is Hawaii's most crowded jail facility. It primarily houses pre-trial detainees and male sentenced felons. Angela is working on solutions to address these concerns as plans roll out at the Hawaii State Legislature for a new prison.
