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Kokua Line
Question: What is the purpose or job of special-duty police officers seen at road construction sites? Are they there to oversee the job or to assist in avoiding traffic congestion? If the latter, shouldn't they be appropriately situated where the anticipated traffic jam would be, that is where cars in two or three lanes meet to merge into one lane? Why are they standing around the work site? Road-crew cops are
doing triple dutyAnswer: Special-duty (off-duty) officers have three tasks, according to Honolulu Police Department spokeswoman Michelle Yu: to ensure the safety of both motorists and pedestrians; to regulate the flow of traffic "as smoothly and expeditiously as possible"; and to ensure the safe use of construction equipment in public rights of way.
"The construction company shares in the responsibility for facilitating traffic flow," Yu said. "It can do this through lane closures or use of traffic cones."
If you have a complaint or concern about a construction site, she said to call the nearest police station "so a sergeant can be sent out to assess the situation."
Q: A truck, license plate --- , was driving on the H-3 at 7:45 a.m. June 13 and turned onto the H-1. It had no cover, which resulted in a lot of fine gravel flying out and hitting cars behind it. Can you please pass this on to police?
A: If you witness something like this, you should call police yourself. We passed on the license plate number you provided, but Honolulu police spokeswoman Michelle Yu said police can't act on a third-party report in a case like this.
If the situation poses an immediate threat, Yu said to call 911. Otherwise, notify the appropriate district police station, providing date, time, license number, description of vehicle, etc., she said.
Auwe
To the complaining "voter" who falsely accused political sign-holders who were west of Kalani High School of creating traffic jams in the a.m. and p.m. Ridiculous! The traffic jams are no worse and no better with the sign-holders. I am not involved with the campaigns referred to. -- B. Wilkinson
Mahalo
At 7:30 a.m. Thursday, May 25, my car stalled on Kinau near Ward. I would like to acknowledge the many people who helped me: 1. The driver who offered to call the tow company on his cellular. 2. The driver of the white vehicle who told me what to do and pushed my car across the intersection out of very busy traffic. 3. In my rearview mirror, I noticed another man pushing my car. After a wait and no tow truck, I walked to the Honolulu Academy of Arts and asked 4. the yard man whether there was a pay phone nearby. He directed me to a side entrance where 5. Jason of security led me to their phone. I called a tow company, which sent a truck in 20 minutes. I couldn't contact my husband to pick me up at the service station. 6. When mechanic Curtis heard that, he immediately offered to take me home, saying it was on his way to where he was delivering a car he had serviced. In my stressed and helpless state, all these people came to my aid with unhesitating, good-hearted spirits, which filled my heart to bursting with gratitude. Thank you, ever so much, all you gracious, wonderful people. -- No name
Auwe
To CNN Headline News (Oceanic Cable Channel 15), for introducing their weather report as being for the "states" or "nation," but do not include Hawaii or Alaska in the report. -- D.E.
Need help with problems? Call Kokua Line at 525-8686,
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