Camera-based crime-fighting is coming to high-crime areas on Oahu thanks to a grant from a major retailer.

The Honolulu Police Department is to announce tomorrow the start of Proj­ect PUEO, or Policing Using Electronic Observation, at a news conference in Waipahu.

Cameras are to be placed in strategically located areas of federally designated Weed and Seed sites in Ewa, Wai­pahu and Kalihi/Palama/Chinatown. The initiative is aimed at deterring graffiti, illegal drinking and drugs, and illegal dumping in the Weed and Seed areas by monitoring and recording crimes in those areas.

PUEO — Hawaiian for "owl" — is made possible by a $100,000 grant from Target’s Safe City Proj­ect.

HPD already uses video cameras to monitor illicit activity in Waikiki and Chinatown. It’s unclear whether those programs will be absorbed by PUEO or operate independently.