Officers of the Honolulu Police Department shall
be guided by this directive when dealing with juvenile runaway cases.

INVESTIGATIVE RESPONSIBILITY

The Misdemeanor Follow-Up Detail (MFUD) of each
patrol district shall be responsible for the
investigation of juvenile runaway cases where
no foul play, suicidal tendencies, or any other
unusual circumstances are suspected.

DEFINITIONS

Status offender: A youth under the age of 18 who
commits an act that, if committed by an adult,
would not constitute a crime: runaway, truancy,
curfew (only juveniles under 16 years old), beyond
parental control, and injurious behavior/incorrigible.

Runaway: Any youth who voluntarily leaves or remains away
from home or the custody of his or her parent/guardian without permission.

PROCEDURES

Only reported juvenile runaways and status
offenders are listed in the outstanding Juvenile
Justice Information System (JJIS) file.

A. Communications Division

1. Juveniles reported as runaways shall be entered
into the outstanding JJIS file.

2. An outstanding juvenile runaway shall be removed
from the JJIS file when the assigned officer informs
the Communications Division that:

a. The juvenile is under arrest for the runaway offense; or

b. The runaway case is closed (e.g., unfounded or for records only).

B. Patrol Divisions

1. When a call is received about a juvenile runaway,
a beat officer shall be assigned to the case to conduct
the initial investigation.

2. The assigned officer shall determine if there
exists any foul play; suicidal tendencies; or other
life-threatening medical, physical, or emotional condition.
If such circumstances exist, the officer shall initiate a
missing person case and immediately notify the on-duty
lieutenant in the Criminal Investigation Division (CID).

3. If no suspicious circumstances exist, the assigned
officer shall initiate a runaway report and follow
established procedures for completing the Incident Report,
HPD-192 form. The officer shall use separate report numbers
for each juvenile reported as a runaway, even if they are
believed to have run away together. The completed Incident
Report, HPD-192 form, shall be forwarded to the district’s
MFUD in which the juvenile runaway resides.

4. The officer shall perform appropriate checks to
attempt to locate the juvenile.

5. An officer who locates a juvenile runaway shall
arrest the juvenile and prepare a Juvenile Arrest Report
(JAR), HPD-191 form, and Follow-Up report. The arresting
officer shall contact a field supervisor for a case
disposition. That field supervisor shall be guided by
Policy 4.33, HANDLING JUVENILES, to determine the
disposition of an arrested juvenile runaway. The
completed JAR and Follow-Up report shall be forwarded
to the Records and Identification Division.

C. MFUD

The MFUD shall be responsible for the continued
investigation of outstanding juvenile runaway cases.

ARREST REQUIREMENTS

A. If a juvenile is an outstanding runaway
and is arrested for any other offense, the
juvenile shall be booked for the runaway offense as well.

B. The arresting officer shall request a
juvenile number (e.g., J#-) through the Communications
Division and place the juvenile number in the
appropriate blocks of the HPD-191 form and the Incident Report.

C. Officers responding to runaway cases on
military installations shall immediately notify
the base police of their investigation.

NEWS MEDIA

A. As directed by the Family Court, neither
information nor the photograph of any runaway
juvenile shall be released to the news media
without clearance from the officer in charge of
the investigation and the child’s parents.

B. The guidelines established in Policy 5.06,
MEDIA AND PUBLIC RELATIONS; and Policy 8.01,
DEPARTMENTAL NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE, shall be
observed in disseminating any information to the news media.

MISSING CHILD CENTER OF HAWAII

A. The services of the Missing Child Center
of Hawaii are available to help locate missing
or runaway children.

B. Parents may request assistance from the
Missing Child Center of Hawaii in preparing posters
on missing or runaway children for public
dissemination (see the attachment).