Hawaii’s New Governor Will Have To Make Some Hard Decisions On Crime And Punishment 0 Something must be done about Hawaii’s overcrowded and run-down jails, or the courts may finally force the state to act.
Max Otani, the outgoing director of the state Department of Public Safety, has a wish list and a warning for the next governor of Hawaii.
The warning is that conditions have deteriorated inside Hawaii’s jails to the point that the threat of lawsuits and federal oversight of the facilities now “looms over the state,” according to Otani.
His answer to that threat is his wish list. He says all four of the state’s packed jails urgently need to be replaced with modern facilities, and the state must dramatically expand social service programs in the community — particularly programs for the mentally ill — to help steer people away from jail.
Otani’s time as director ends when Gov. David Ige leaves office next month, which means it will be up to either Democrat Josh Green or Republican Duke Aiona to address the problems and neglect that have dogged the state correctional system for many years.
Perhaps the most pressing issue for the system is what to do about the aging and inefficient Oahu Community Correctional Center. Both candidates say they support replacing OCCC, which is the state’s largest jail, but they are vague on exactly how they would go about it.
