Email Peter Sur at psur@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
By PETER SUR
Tribune-Herald staff writer
The Police Department’s plan to operate 40 surveillance cameras stalled in the past year because of regulatory and procedural issues.
But that should change in the coming weeks, with the installation of dozens of cameras at various locations around the island.
In 2008, the Hawaii Tourism Authority awarded a $488,948 grant to the Police Department to install the cameras. Police Maj. Larry Weber told the Tribune-Herald in 2010 that 16 of the cameras would be in downtown Hilo, 15 in Kailua-Kona, eight in Pahoa and one at Akaka Falls.
The high-definition cameras can record and transmit video and see in the dark. They can identify license plates and capture faces.
They also draw electricity, which became the sticking point for installing the cameras on utility poles. Under a joint pole agreement, the utility poles are owned by Hawaii County, Hawaiian Electric Light Co. and Hawaiian Telcom.
Six of the cameras are operational in Hilo, and four are in Kailua-Kona. The other 30 await installation.
“On the week of the 15th (of January), we should be reinstituting the installation process” for the
remaining cameras, Weber said Wednesday. “We didn’t install all the cameras because we couldn’t go on the poles, on the HELCO poles.”
Both the Police Department and the electric utility have confirmed that those issues have been resolved.
“We’re paying a fee to HELCO” to power the cameras, Weber said.
He was not aware of any deterrence effect the cameras may have had on crime.
The video feeds from the cameras are transmitted wirelessly through a network built by Scientel Wireless and recorded on a computer for review.
They are also watched at the respective receiving desks in Hilo and Kailua-Kona. When the Pahoa cameras go on-line the feeds may be viewed from the Pahoa Police Station.
Several factors contributed to the delay in the installation, said Kevin Waltjen, HELCO’s engineering manager.
“It’s not just one particular reason why it took this long. There’s just multiple reasons,” Waltjen said.
The statewide program results from the HTA’s 2005 Tourism Strategic Plan that identified several tourism initiatives, including one relating to visitors’ safety and security.
A pilot surveillance program on Oahu appeared successful in deterring crime, and the hotel tax-supported agency decided to expand it to Maui and Hawaii Island.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii has gone on record in opposition to the cameras, citing their ineffectiveness in deterring crime and their potential for misuse.
Email Peter Sur at psur@hawaiitribune-herald.com.