City police officials were unable to provide cost estimates Friday for adding an undetermined number of video surveillance cameras for security during the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

The Honolulu Police Department will ask a City Council committee Tuesday to approve a resolution authorizing the use of overt video monitoring to ensure the security of the 21 heads of state who will attend APEC meetings in November and other attendees, who could number 20,000.

Police Capt. Andrew Lum said the department is still trying to assess the cost, and the number of additional cameras hasn’t been confirmed yet, but should be by Tuesday’s hearing.

"It will supplement the system we have now," he said. "We are trying to narrow down the locations."

Surveillance cameras are already installed in Chinatown and Waikiki.

The money to pay for additional cameras will come from the city, Lum said, but he did not elaborate.

Police Chief Louis Kealoha wrote to the Council chairman asking for coverage in various areas on Oahu, including, but not limited to, Waikiki, downtown and Ko Olina.

The video surveillance cameras would provide police with real-time video information to ensure public safety before, during and after the APEC meetings, the proposed resolution says.

While much of the activity will center on Waikiki, the Nov. 13 leaders’ meeting will be held in Ko Olina.

Councilwoman Tulsi Gabbard, chairwoman of the Council’s Safety and Economic Development and Government Affairs Committee, acknowledged APEC is valuable to Honolulu, and that giving law enforcement "the tools they need in order to make sure that the safety and protection of these world leaders is important."

But Gabbard wants answers to several questions, including "the cost, how many additional cameras, where they’re looking to put them, where the funding is going to come from."

Members of the public have called asking the same questions, she said.

Gabbard said she is "looking at the big picture, and making sure the cameras serve the community and don’t violate privacy or pose any other issues that private citizens would be concerned about."

Gabbard said no additional funding likely will be required because the resolution doesn’t call for it.

The police department had already requested additional funds for training and equipment to prepare for APEC over the last couple of budget cycles, and that is a possible source of funding, she said.

Waikiki Neighborhood Board Chairman Robert Finley said he is hoping the cameras will serve a broader use than APEC.

"We’ve been asking for cameras for more than two years" for Kuhio Avenue, where several bars are located, he said. Security cameras are already on Kalakaua Avenue.