War on terror aids
war on drugsThe issue: Stiffer security
at Honolulu Airport has resulted
in more drug-trafficking arrests.SECURITY measures heightened by the terrorist threat have brought a dividend in crime control: a dramatic increase in the arrests of people carrying illicit drugs at Honolulu Airport. Technology eventually should result only in fools trying to transport drugs on commercial airlines.
With the increased airport security presenting a daunting obstacle to drug runners, Hawaii's law-enforcement agencies are wisely paying more attention to shorelines as a drop-off point for drugs. That effort could bring success in intercepting a wide array of contraband.
In the six months before Sept. 11, authorities made two drug arrests and seized less than $200 worth of street drugs at the airport's checkpoints. Since then, random searches of carry-on baggage and body pat-downs have led to 30 arrests and seizure of $273,000 worth of illegal drugs.
Ed Howard, acting supervisor of the state Narcotics Enforcement Division, credited screeners for private security companies -- International Total Services, Wackenhut and Akal Security -- for spotting the drugs and notifying authorities. The arrests indicate that the much-maligned companies are responding well to increased requirements.
New equipment could produce an impervious security system, but one that might cause discomfort among some travelers if used even randomly. The new X-ray systems can detect odors from explosives or drugs, determine the contents of a closed bottle and see through clothes in -- ahem -- extraordinary detail.
Tests of six of the systems were begun at the Orlando, Fla., airport this week by National Safe Skies Alliance, a nonprofit organization that evaluates new security devices and reports its findings to the federal Transportation Security Administration. Three systems will focus on carry-on baggage and the other three on passengers, but only those who volunteer.
One system, made by OSI Systems Inc., shows every inch of the contour of a person's body. Security officials say it will be used only when a passenger shows an "anomaly," and then only by a security worker of the same sex. The American Civil Liberties Union fears the device will be used indiscriminately to conduct "a virtual strip-search."
Another system, made by Barringer Instruments Inc., blows quick bursts of air at a person. It is capable of detecting any odor from its library of 40 types of explosives and 60 types of drug residue.
"The ability to use technology to be able to stop some of the drug trafficking, we're always looking for the opportunity to deal with that war as well," Orlando Mayor Glenda Hood said while showing off the equipment last week.
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Bus project a step
toward easing trafficThe issue: City Council members
are hesitant to clear funds needed
for a rapid-transit plan.WITH the city administration fast on the road toward a transit system designed to alleviate traffic congestion in Honolulu, the City Council's reluctance to approve funding measures could stall the project. Having approved Mayor Harris's Bus Rapid Transit plans two years ago, Council members should not be throwing up barriers at this point.
Federal funds are already in place. Last December, the U.S. Senate approved $12 million for the first segment of the project that is expected to cost about $1 billion when completed in 2010. With traffic problems growing worse by the day, the Council -- which rejected a mass transit rail project 10 years ago -- should not balk at clearing a $35 million bond appropriation the project needs to get started.
Council members Gary Okino and Ann Kobayashi are questioning whether the system will work. Okino is skeptical about efficiency as public transit vehicles will share lanes with cars along part of roadways in the 5.6 miles of the system's first phase. "More and more, this system is deteriorating into just another bus line," Okino said. However, most of the corridors will be largely free of other cars, except for those turning right. Transportation officials say the Iwilei to Kapahulu run will take less than 22 minutes, whereas a regular bus trip takes about twice that long. Kobayashi argued that the city has other needs for construction money. That may be, but in the long term, spending for a transit system now is an investment in the city's future.
Although Okino and Kobayashi took office after the Council approved the project, it has been debated and tweaked for almost four years. Adjustments and changes probably will have to be made as the complex is put into place, but to call the whole thing off at this stage could leave Oahu residents with no effective transit system at all.
Traffic congestion in Honolulu will not subside. In the past 20 years, the amount of time Oahu motorists spent stuck in traffic has more than doubled to about 20 hours a year, according to a transportation survey last year. Continuing to build roads isn't practical; there isn't enough land to dedicate to highways and more cars just add to pollution problems. Giving Honolulu residents alternatives to driving is the solution and the bus transit project would be one of them.
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Published by Oahu Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Black Press.Don Kendall, Publisher
Frank Bridgewater, managing editor 529-4791; fbridgewater@starbulletin.com
Michael Rovner, assistant managing editor 529-4768; mrovner@starbulletin.com
Lucy Young-Oda, assistant managing editor 529-4762; lyoungoda@starbulletin.comJohn Flanagan, contributing editor 294-3533; jflanagan@starbulletin.com
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