HPD Cites 50 for Stay-At-Home Violations on Big Island

All persons within the state of Hawaiʻi are under a stay-at-home order until April 30, but not all of them are listening.

The Hawai‘i Police Department Wednesday released a list of citations written and arrests made due to violations of Gov. David Ige’s Emergency Proclamation, which put the order into effect. No one is exempt from the order, resident or visitor, except as necessary to maintain continuity of essential operations of the federal critical infrastructure sectors.

To the extent persons use shared or outdoor spaces when outside their residence, they must comply with the social distancing requirements set forth by the proclamation 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.

During the second week of the mandatory lockdown and quarantine period, which spanned April 1 to April 7, 2020, HPD officers arrested 14 people, cited 32 more and initiated criminal cases against four people for a total of 50 infractions specific to the violation of Ige’s official orders.

Enforcement is 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 person arrested, 5 persons cited
• South Kohala District: 7 persons cited
• Kaʻū District: 1 person arrested

HPD has continued enforcement of the governor’s order when appropriate, the department said in a press release, primarily in cases of non-compliance after verbal warnings or when in conjunction with unrelated calls for service.

Violation of the order can result in fines of up to $5,000 and one year in jail.

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, HPD continued.