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Committee amends, advances bill to formalize HPD media alerts; debate centers on 10-minute rule and who qualifies as 'media'

Honolulu City Council Public Safety & Economy Committee · November 21, 2025
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Summary

The committee amended Bill 46 to a posted CD1 (changing a required 'report' to an 'update') and reported it out for passage on third reading. Interim Chief Ronnie Vanek said HPD is beta-testing an alert system; journalists praised the measure while others warned against narrowing public access by defining 'qualified media.'

The Honolulu City Council public-safety committee on Thursday amended and advanced Bill 46, a measure to require the Honolulu Police Department to release certain public information to media and the public. The committee changed wording in the measure from a required ‘‘report’’ to an ‘‘annual update’’ and posted a CD1 with additional technical edits.

Interim Chief Ronnie Vanek told the committee HPD already has piloted an alerts system with select reporters and is in beta testing. Vanek said the department supports the bill’s intent but asked the committee to reconsider a formal annual reporting requirement, noting the update could be redundant. The committee agreed to change the language from ‘‘report’’ to ‘‘update’’ to reduce administrative burden.

Discussion also focused on a 10-minute requirement in the draft that would require HPD to send messaging alerts no more than 10 minutes after the occurrence or entry of information. Chief Vanek said HPD prefers to keep the 10-minute standard for now and may seek to shorten it later as systems improve.

Local media and news veterans offered mixed views. Retired TV news professional John Dutzman urged broad public access and warned that the city should not be positioned to ‘‘designate what a legitimate media organization is.’’ Jason Haguar of KITV supported moving the bill forward, saying it would solidify a conduit for essential public-safety information. Online testifiers raised concerns that strict media-qualification rules could exclude independent or newer outlets.

What’s next: The bill was amended to a posted CD1 and reported out for passage on third reading; the committee requested future updates from HPD on implementation and any change to the 10-minute timeline.