Kokua Line
Kokua Line
A beachfront home near Haleiwa is owned by an out-of-state man. It is usually not occupied but the home and yard are immaculate. It is occasionally set up for receptions. In front of it is a lovely lagoon where many families with children come. I was there with my 9-year-old son one Sunday. I was reading when he suddenly said, "Mom that girl up there is gross!" I looked up to see a young Japanese woman on the lanai, nude. A photographer was snapping away. She then sat on the railing and the photographer moved in for an "anatomical" shot. I went over, yelling about this being a family beach, and stopped production, at least while I remained. I don't think what they were doing is legal. What can I do to stop this from recurring? Call 911 to report cases
of indecent exposureWe repeatedly called the number of the home, but got no answer.
The thing to do the next time you see it happen is to call 911, said Honolulu Police Department spokeswoman Jean Motoyama.
"An officer will assess the situation," she said. Even though the nude woman is on private property, "because she can be seen by the public, there could be a charge of indecent exposure."
Since you indicated Japanese nationals were involved, "They may be unfamiliar with the law," Motoyama said.
Does the 911 system require operators to give their first names or some kind of identification? If not, shouldn't they do so, in case you have a complaint?
If asked, operators are required to give their names or operator numbers, said Capt. William Chur, of the Honolulu Police Department's communications division.
However, it's not a problem to track down operators in 911 calls because the numbers are recorded and "we audio record all telephone conversations," he said.
At 7:25 a.m. on a recent Saturday, I received a call from MCI soliciting business. The person started out by saying, "Good afternoon," so obviously it must have been coming from the East Coast. Doesn't the law say telemarketers can't solicit before 9 a.m.? And can they do it on weekends?
MCI spokesman Charlie Sutlive apologized for your experience and tracked down your complaint to a customer service representative.
Per your request, he said your name has been removed from its telemarketing lists. It will remain so unless you move and get another phone number, Sutlive said.
There are two sources of calls: automatically generated calls given to a telemarketer and calls generated separately by a telemarketer. Since a customer service representative made the call, that person was spoken to, Sutlive said. "If it was auto dialing that did it, we want to make sure there's not a glitch in the system and correct that as well."
The Federal Trade Commission keeps reins on telemarketers. One of their rules is that telemarketers are not supposed to call you before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. Days are not specified. If you ask them not to call back and they do, they're breaking the law.
The company is supposed to keep a record of such requests; you should keep one as well.
If you can't get relief from a pesky telemarketer, file a written complaint with the Federal Trade Commission stating the problem, including any documentation, and giving your full name, address and telephone number, including area code. Mail to: Correspondence Branch, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20580.
Mahalo
To Penny and Abraham for helping me start my car on June 22 on a Monday when everyone was too busy to help out. -- Rosemarie
Need help with problems? Call Kokua Line at 525-8686,
fax 525-6711, or write to P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu 96802.
Email to kokualine@starbulletin.com
