Daily Archives: January 4, 2013

HONOLULU PROSECUTING ATTORNEY KEITH M. KANESHIRO
INAUGURATION REMARKS
January 2, 2013

Thank you all for attending the inauguration of my new four-term as Prosecuting Attorney for the City and County of Honolulu. This is also the swearing in of my First Deputy, Armina Ching, and the attorneys that I appointed as deputy prosecutors.

Family, friends and supporters were very much responsible for making this event happen today. I thank you all very much for the opportunity to continue to work toward making Honolulu a safer place to live in.

During these past two years, this office has embarked on many new initiatives and improved on ways to ensure public safety. We have based our concerns on the impact of crime in our community. The most obvious impact is the victims of crime.

Our elder abuse unit has doubled in size and as a result we are handling more cases that were not handled in the past. We are also working with financial institutions on recognizing financial exploitation of elders.

With regard to sex assault victims, we have re-established a specialized team of prosecutors who will handle cases from the beginning to end so that victims deal with only one prosecutor. In addition, other victims, especially children, will have our courthouse dog, Pono, as their ally when they are interviewed or have to testify in court. Pono has already helped many victims who initially were traumatized and afraid to tell their story.

We continue to add prosecutors in the area of domestic violence and have also increased training to strengthen their expertise. In addition, we are about to open a Family Justice Center that will provide long-term transitional housing so victims can escape their environment of violence and become self-sustaining.

We continue our strong support for Drug Court, which provides treatment for drug offenders instead of incarceration. In addition to being defendants in criminal cases, many of these offenders are also victims of drug abuse. If their drug abuse problem is not addressed with treatment, they will continue to commit crimes and create more victims.

There are other victims that we will speak for. We will continue to fight for animals that are being mistreated and abused. Despite what one court has shown, animals deserve the protection of our justice system and we will continue to fight to assure that there is justice for all of them.

We will also protect our environment with a newly created environmental crimes unit that will vigorously prosecute these crimes with trained prosecutors. Hawaii is a paradise because of its land and people. We will fight to preserve that beauty.

Finally, to the deputy prosecutors who will be asked to take on these responsibilities, remember our mission statement:

“To promote and ensure public safety and order through effective, efficient, and just prosecution.”

These are the words that will guide you through your cases. Remember, every case impacts people’s lives. How we do our jobs impacts how the community views public safety. At times, there may be victims who have no voice or issues that do not address the concern for public safety — we need to be that voice, that advocate, and that fighter.

All of you are part of an admirable profession. All of you have a tremendous duty and obligation to uphold.

Thank you for choosing public service. I am very confident that you will fulfill your oath of office and overcome the many challenges that lie ahead.

Let us proceed with our mission of preserving and expanding public safety.