Radio woes may Software problems that have repeatedly forced the Honolulu Police Department to shut down the digital radio communication link for its patrol officers once again may be forcing the officers to rely on the department's old analog system while they are responding to police calls.
force HPD to go
to old system
By Nelson Daranciang
ndaranciang@starbulletin.comBeginning Dec. 2, patrol officers will be using the analog system while technicians upgrade the software, city spokeswoman Carol Costa said. She said she did not know how long the upgrade work will take.
The switch was announced in a department-wide memo dated Nov. 15, eight days after the latest glitch, which caused a partial shutdown of the digital radio system for nearly nine hours. On Nov. 7, a software upgrade did not reset itself and the glitch lasted from about 3 p.m. to 11:45 p.m., Costa said.
However, Assistant Police Chief Karl Godsey said the upgrade will be simple procedure -- replacement of software cards -- and may be accomplished without a shutdown.
Kimo Smith, chairman of Oahu's State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers, and Alex Garcia, former chairman of the police union, both expressed concerns for officers' safety with a troublesome digital system.
They also said the $60 million for the digital system was money misspent. Godsey said the system cost $43 million.
The digital system is designed to allow patrol officers to retrieve information, such as outstanding warrants, drivers' licenses and vehicle registrations, while they are in the field. The information is available through the computers in their patrol vehicles.
However, problems have forced officers to use the old system, which requires them to call police dispatchers who then retrieve the information from their computers at the police department.
Garcia said the old system actually was more efficient because dispatchers had an information console that was easier to use.
Smith said officers were asking for the switch back to analog months ago because of problems with the digital radios, primarily in Downtown Honolulu, Kalihi and Pearl City.
In April, the department was forced to turn off its digital radios for nearly four hours because information from the mobile computers was clogging the system, cutting off communications between dispatchers and officers.
Then, in June, faulty software forced the department to turn off the emergency feature on the digital radios.
Garcia, a consistent critic of the digital system, said the department should simply get rid of the costly system.
He also called for the city to conduct an audit of the money spent for it.
"We spent $60 million on this. We just bought a white elephant," Garcia said, "To spend $60 million to go back to where you were before. It doesn't make sense."
Garcia said much of the money went to consultants who were called every time a new problem occurred.
Smith said he also wants to know why so much money went to consultants.
"If they were getting paid that kind of money, they should be fixing it," Smith said.
Star-Bulletin reporter Gregg Kakesako
contributed to this report.
Honolulu Police Department
