§710-1011 Refusing to aid a law enforcement officer. (1) A person commits the offense of refusing to aid a law enforcement officer when, upon a reasonable command by a person known to him to be a law enforcement officer, he intentionally refuses or fails to aid such law enforcement officer, in:
(a) Effectuating or securing an arrest; or
(b) Preventing the commission by another of any offense.
(2) Refusing to aid a law enforcement officer is a petty misdemeanor.
(3) A person who complies with this section by aiding a law enforcement officer shall not be held liable to any person for damages resulting therefrom, provided he acted reasonably under the circumstances known to him at the time. [L 1972, c 9, pt of §1; am L 2001, c 91, §4]
COMMENTARY ON §710-1011
This section is not designed to allow peace officers to foist their routine or dangerous duties upon innocent citizens. The reasonable context in which this aid is required precludes requests for routine and unnecessary, as well as dangerous and unconscionable, aid. The type of situation which the Code envisions is the request to a citizen, by a peace officer, to summon aid or render immediately vital information, where there is no question of danger, incrimination, or substantial inconvenience to the person of whom the aid is asked. Various forms of this law may be found in the proposed revisions of other states.[1]
Previous Hawaii law provided for a $50 fine for refusal to aid a peace officer, under roughly the same circumstances as those provided in the Code.2 Instead, the Code imposes its lightest criminal penalty, petty misdemeanor, for this offense.
The waiver of civil liability in subsection (3) is both fair and necessary. The waiver is fair in that it is hardly equitable to order a person to perform a useful act, on one hand, then expose the person to the threat of civil liability, on the other. The waiver is necessary in that it would arguably be unreasonable to request such aid in many cases if all of the standards of civil liability were to apply. The person of whom aid is asked might, therefore, be able justifiably to refuse to give it.
Case Notes
Cited: 57 H. 390, 557 P.2d 1334 (1976).
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§710-1011 Commentary:
1. See N.Y.R.P.L. §195.10; Prop. Del. Cr. Code § §730, 731; Prop. Mich. Rev. Cr. Code §4250.
2. H.R.S. §740-10.
Structure Hawaii Revised Statutes
710. Offenses Against Public Administration
710-1000 Definitions of terms in this chapter.
710-1010 Obstructing government operations. §710-1010 Commentary:
710-1010.5 Interference with reporting an emergency or crime.
710-1011 Refusing to aid a law enforcement officer. §710-1011 Commentary:
710-1012 Refusing to assist in fire control. §710-1012 Commentary:
710-1013 Compounding. §710-1013 Commentary:
710-1014 Rendering a false alarm. §710-1014 Commentary:
710-1014.5 Misuse of 911 emergency telephone service.
710-1015 False reporting to law-enforcement authorities. §710-1015 Commentary:
710-1016 Impersonating a public servant. §710-1016 Commentary:
710-1016.5 REPEALED. L 1987, c 130, §2.
710-1016.6 Impersonating a law enforcement officer in the first degree.
710-1016.7 Impersonating a law enforcement officer in the second degree.
710-1017 Tampering with a government record. §710-1017 Commentary:
710-1017.5 Sale or manufacture of deceptive identification document; penalties.
710-1018 Securing the proceeds of an offense. §710-1018 Commentary:
710-1019 Destroying or defacing official notices; penalty.
710-1020 Escape in the first degree.
710-1021 Escape in the second degree. § §710-1020 And 710-1021 Commentary:
710-1022 Promoting prison contraband in the first degree.
710-1023 Promoting prison contraband in the second degree. § §710-1022 And 710-1023 Commentary:
710-1024 Bail jumping in the first degree.
710-1025 Bail jumping in the second degree.
710-1026 Resisting arrest. §710-1026 Commentary:
710-1026.9 Resisting an order to stop a motor vehicle in the first degree.
710-1027 Resisting an order to stop a motor vehicle in the second degree.
710-1028 Hindering prosecution; definition of rendering assistance.
710-1029 Hindering prosecution in the first degree.
710-1030 Hindering prosecution in the second degree. § §710-1028 To 710-1030 Commentary:
710-1031 Intimidating a correctional worker.
710-1040 Bribery. §710-1040 Commentary:
710-1061 False swearing in official matters.
710-1063 Unsworn falsification to authorities. § §710-1060 To 710-1063 Commentary:
710-1064 Retraction. §710-1064 Commentary:
710-1065 Inconsistent statements. §710-1065 Commentary:
710-1066 No prosecution based on previous denial of guilt. §710-1066 Commentary:
710-1067 Corroboration. §710-1067 Commentary:
710-1068 Irregularities no defense. §710-1068 Commentary:
710-1069 Misrepresenting a notarized document in the first degree.
710-1069.5 Misrepresenting a notarized document in the second degree.
710-1070 Bribery of or by a witness. §710-1070 Commentary:
710-1071 Intimidating a witness.
710-1072 Tampering with a witness. §710-1072 Commentary:
710-1072.2 Retaliating against a witness.
710-1072.5 Obstruction of justice.
710-1073 Bribery of or by a juror.
710-1074 Intimidating a juror.
710-1075 Jury tampering. § §710-1073 To 710-1075 Commentary:
710-1075.5 Retaliating against a juror.
710-1076 Tampering with physical evidence. §710-1076 Commentary: