[2] Consisting of a separate chapter for each of the four counties in the state along with a statewide board of directors, SHOPO has engaged in lobbying and legal efforts to keep police misconduct files private, and roughly 10 percent of its spending is focused on advertising to promote police officers and the union itself.

[3] There is a separate chapter of SHOPO for each of the four counties represented, including Honolulu, Kauai, Maui, and Hawaii.

[2] A bill intended to remove the exemption subsequently failed twice to pass through a committee that was chaired by a Hawaii state senator who had been endorsed by SHOPO.

Roughly a hundred SHOPO members gathered in the rotunda of the Hawaii State Capitol to demonstrate their opposition to the bill,[7] and dozens of supporters of SHOPO protested outside the building during the final vote on the bill in the Hawaii House of Representatives, where it was passed.

[8] After the passage of House Bill 285, which implemented a law called Act 47 to remove the exemption, Honolulu Civil Beat filed several public records requests for information about arbitration decisions related to police misconduct.