Seventy-seven Honolulu police officers Monday began testing body-worn cameras in a 30-day pilot project, making the Honolulu Police Department the last in the state to use the cameras.

The project stalled in September due to technical issues regarding storage of the videos, said Capt. Rade Vanic, who has been working on the project since taking over the job from Maj. Andrew Lum.

The department has been working on getting a body-cam pilot project up and running for the last 1-1/2 to two years, and the timeline had been set, so the timing is unrelated to the new chief being sworn in last week, Vanic said.

HPD selected Axon from four vendors and its Body 2 camera, which was unveiled Monday at a news conference at the main station.

The Kauai and Maui police departments as well as large departments such as the Los Angeles Police Department have also selected Axon, which is a leader in body-worn cameras, Vanic said.

“We’re hoping to reduce the number of complaints,” both against officers and members of the public, Vanic said, which he acknowledged could change the way civilians behave.

Police are not required to disclose to civilians when they are being recorded, which includes audio and video. A light on the camera will illuminate when the camera is recording.

“If you see an officer and the camera is on, you’re being recorded,” Vanic said.

The cameras will be used by officers on the “third watch,” from 2 to 11 p.m., in District 1 — Central Honolulu, which covers downtown, Chinatown, Aala Park, Makiki, lower Punchbowl, Tantalus, the Capitol district, Aloha Tower, Ala Moana Park, Kakaako, McCully and Moiliili.

Officers testing the cameras also include morning solo bike officers and night traffic enforcement officers, who include police on motorcycles and other vehicles.

HPD selected the third watch because it has a large volume and a wide variety of cases, “much more of what officers are experiencing,” Vanic said.

The videos obtained during the shift can be used by the Prosecutor’s Office in court.

The officers are undergoing mandatory training, including online training.

The officer will undock the camera at the beginning of each shift and take it out in the field. At the end of the shift, the officer will dock the camera, and the data will be automatically uploaded.

The cameras are free of charge during the pilot program, but HPD did not provide any cost estimates for the cameras to fully equip the department. Nor did it provide any cost estimate for data storage, which can be substantial, Vanic said.

Much of the cost of having a system in place is maintaining the data. HPD has created a unit with two offices and a sergeant to manage the videos full time for the 77 officers. The unit will handle public requests for data, and the police chief or the body camera administrator must approve the request.

In March, HPD officials told the City Council Budget Committee the department has budgeted $1 million for the pilot project, which may not be enough.

Axon’s website shows plans range from $15 to $79 a month per user. Some of the plans include storage.

HPD had set in place a policy dated March 29 for use of the body-worn cameras, saying HPD “believes transparency is critical in establishing public trust and uses body-worn camera recordings to document police interaction.”

Vanic said it will be interesting to see how the program’s participants respond to the shirt-mounted cameras.

“We will be asking for feedback from the officers,” he said.

The State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers (SHOPO) reviewed the policy, but the Hawaii Labor Relations Board ruled last year against SHOPO in a case involving the Kauai Police Department, finding the union has no say on the policy and it is not subject to negotiation. A circuit judge confirmed that ruling.

SHOPO President Tenari Maafala said regarding the body-worn cameras, “For the most part, the officers know what the community wants: transparency. You can’t make everyone happy.”

Body cameras “work both ways” and protect officers “against false allegations of police brutality and the like,” Maafala said.

He said the union and the American Civil Liberties Union share a common concern regarding privacy rights.

The HPD policy says the cameras must be activated whenever officers respond to calls for service or initiate an encounter with the public. The devices are not to be deactivated until a call or encounter is concluded or the deactivation is ordered by a supervisor.

Victims of crimes or people making anonymous reports can request recordings to be stopped, the policy states. Officers do not have to activate the cameras when dealing with victims of crimes of a sensitive nature or when recordings might risk witnesses’ safety.

Officers who fail to activate their cameras will need to notify their supervisors and document what happened. Those who decide to discontinue their use need to state their decision while the camera is running, the policy says.

Maafala said patrol officers are required to carry a lot of equipment, and this is just another tool they need to operate amid their daily duties and to be mindful of when to turn on and off.

“We support it,” he said. “It’s good for everyone involved.”