Power failure created Honolulu police officials blame a radio communications problem Wednesday night on an electrical short-circuit and damaged equipment. Police said that for about 45 minutes, officers and dispatchers could not communicate by radio from Pearl City to East Honolulu because the department could not switch over to battery backup when a power outage hit.
police radio problems
Damaged equipment kept the
system from switching to backupBy Rod Antone
rantone@starbulletin.comAccording to Hawaiian Electric Co. officials, an electrical inverter that enables the Police Department to use its battery-powered backup system by converting DC current to AC current was under repair. Without the inverter, HPD could not use its backup system when the power went out.
"There was communication, but it wasn't the same kind of communication you would normally expect," said Acting Assistant Chief Karl Godsey, who heads the Support Services Division, which handles HPD communications. Godsey said affected districts included Pearl City, Kalihi, Downtown Honolulu and was a particular problem in East Honolulu.
"Normally at other districts it would work because there are alternate sites (radio towers) that the radio seeks out. East Honolulu, District 7, has no alternate sites," Godsey said.
Officers were able to relay some radio communications from Waikiki, Leeward and Windward Oahu, areas that were not affected. The power failure affected 990 customers and took place before 11 p.m., said HECO spokesman Fred Kobashikawa, when a loose power line came into contact with a traffic signal pole near the Punahou offramp of the H-1 freeway.
Kobashikawa said there were momentary "blinks" of power loss before that as the power line would sometimes brush up against the metal pole of the traffic signal structure. However, he said it was at 10:49 p.m. when the power line made contact with the pole.
It was about then that police started noticing problems.
"I had just finished an interview at the Pearl City police station and was heading back into town when I saw this guy speeding down the highway at around 80 miles per hour," said HPD Detective Alex Garcia. "When I tried to call it in on my radio, there was a digital readout that said, 'DENIED.'"
"I tried frequencies for other districts, Kalihi, District 1 (Downtown Honolulu). All of them said the same thing: DENIED. ... I said, 'What the heck is this?'"
Garcia, the former Oahu Chapter president for the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers, said he sees this week's problem as a sign to investigate the department's radio communication system.
"There should be an independent audit of the radio system and withhold any further funding until the audit is complete, because the system is just inadequate," said Garcia yesterday. "It's happened before, and they keep on giving us the same spin answers."
In response to radio system questions, Godsey said: "There's not a radio problem. This could have happened to any system. ... If you have a power outage, you have a power outage."
"I have the same concerns that other officers have out there, but this was something that we have no control over."
Some police officers questioned why the inverter was down in the first place. Godsey said he did not know and that repair technicians were looking into the problem.
In response to Godsey's explanation, Garcia said: "It's all part of the same system. I still think we should have an audit."
Godsey said a purchase order for a new inverter is under way, though he did not know when it would be delivered. He estimates the cost to purchase and install an inverter at $24,000.
>> June 1998: Honolulu Police Department switches from an antenna-based radio system to the $19.7 million Ericsson digital radio system. HISTORY OF RADIO PROBLEMS
>> July 1998: HPD switches back to analog system because of what police union officials call "garbled transmissions."
>> March 1999: Two officers are injured in Kailua while trying to arrest a suspect. One officer says he pressed the red panic button on his portable radio for backup, but dispatchers say no signal was received.
>> January 2000: Two faulty computer cards cause communication system disruption, and HPD dispatchers are unable to communicate with police officers. The system shuts down for five hours, and HPD pays $2,300 to replace the cards.
>> February 2000: An officer shot while responding to a domestic dispute in Ewa says he also had problems calling for backup when he pressed the red panic button on the radio. Ericsson says the panic button needed to be pressed down for more than one second.
>> June 2000: Waianae patrol units are unable to communicate with 911 dispatchers, though they can communicate with other officers and the Waianae Police Station. Technicians say the problem is with a microwave antenna.
>> September 2000: Police union begins a media campaign protesting the use of the Ericsson radio system, citing "radio blackouts." HPD agrees to set up repeater antennas.