In the aftermath of the New Year’s Day-long manhunt and firefights that left a felon dead and two officers hospitalized, Honolulu police are establishing a 24/7 system for notifying the public of active threats.
Chief Arthur “Joe” Logan said Thursday he is not opposed to sharing information with the public. However, Logan does not believe access to police and first- responder radio communications should be restored.
“Looking back on New Year’s Day, I know that we can do better at communicating with the public. Once we realized the potential danger the subject posed to the public, we should have released general information,” said Logan, testifying before the City Council Committee on Executive Management about the return of public access to nontactical police, fire and ambulance radio traffic. “We started discussing our response on that day and how we can improve internal operations and communications.”
Logan said the department is discussing how to use Emergency Alert System banners on televisions, mobile phones and other devices.
Having personnel authorized to package, disseminate information and answer questions about critical information 24/7 will be put into place, Logan said, as will 24/7 use of HPD’s social media channels.
Logan’s objection to returning to the days when the public had access to nonencrypted radio traffic was supported for the second time since November 2022 by Honolulu Fire Chief Sheldon K. Hao and Emergency Services Department Director Dr. James Ireland.
State Department of Law Enforcement Deputy Director Jared Redulla voiced his objections for the first time Thursday.
The move toward encryption and interoperability between county, state and federal first responders began after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, officials maintain.
The need to protect tactical information, personal information of victims and patients, and first-responder operations were cited as reasons why the public should not hear how first responders operate in real time.
Daryl Huff, a Hawaii News Now reporter, told the Council members that the news media wants a legally binding agreement between professional news and law enforcement organizations where they “would basically sell us the same equipment they have for receiving only.”
“They would program the radios to what we can hear. We would have agreements that would say we can’t use this,” said Huff. “And if we break the agreement we lose the radios. No cost to taxpayers, real-time information to the media, and we (HNN) … have a larger social media footprint than any law enforcement agency in the state. When information comes into our station and we disseminate it very carefully, it goes out to a very large footprint of people.”
Huff pushed back on the assertion by first responders that personal information is jeopardized by the access.
“Personal information, that’s such a red herring. It’s just not true,” said Huff. “The only time I ever heard, in 40 years, protected personal information going out over a scanner was for either an APB on a dangerous suspect they were looking for across the island or … a missing child. Those are the two examples that I ever heard.”
The public and news organizations lost the ability to monitor the radio communications of taxpayer-funded first responders on Feb. 15, 2022, when the final phase of the city’s $15 million conversion from an analog system to an encrypted Motorola P25 digital system wrapped up.
Threat notification
The Honolulu Star- Advertiser asked Mayor Rick Blangiardi and every member of the Honolulu City Council whether they believe the public should have known about the Jan. 1 incident and whether access to first responder radio traffic should be restored.
Blangiardi told the Star-Advertiser in an interview that Logan and his team gave him and the Cabinet a “broad overview” about the events Jan. 1. He and Logan are “at odds” when it comes to how transparent HPD is when it comes time to communicate critical information to the public.
Blangiardi respects that police have to control certain information to protect the integrity of law enforcement operations, but believes the department can communicate better.
“Look, I don’t want to do anything that would usurp the authority of our Police Department or compromise them … in apprehending an individual or investigating criminal behavior or anything like that. Because that’s their work, and we rely on them to the best of their ability,” said Blangiardi. “That said, I have a philosophical disagreement, given my personal belief, with respect to transparency to the public. … I think we could do far more, at least informing the public, and we seem to be at odds on that part. And that is something we will continue to discuss.”
Council Chair Tommy Waters lauded law enforcement’s Jan. 1 work and told the Star-Advertiser in a statement before Thursday’s hearing that HPD should have informed the public they were locked in pursuit of a career criminal armed with an assault rifle.
Waters noted the Jan. 1 manhunt and the Dec. 22 killing of Theresa Cachuela, 33, in a Pearlridge parking garage. Police pursued her estranged husband, Jason Cachuela, 44, who was armed with a handgun, until he shot himself behind a home in Waipahu.
The public “should absolutely have been informed of what was transpiring” so that residents could “take action to protect themselves and their loved ones.”
“As a father myself, the first thing I would do is call my family to make sure they are safe and then give them guidance based on the information that I hear, for example, sheltering in place if appropriate,” said Waters. “Based on the incidents that have occurred over the past few weeks, I am not confident that we are currently examining our communication processes as closely and as thoroughly as we can and should be.”
An ongoing review of our first-responder public communications procedures is critical to improving things going forward, said Waters.
Council member Val Aquino Okimoto, chair of the Council’s Committee on Public Safety, told the Star-Advertiser she has “long supported and will continue to support the work HPD has done to keep Oahu safe and livable.”
“I also recognize that in order to improve public safety … I will work with the department after allowing them the time to do their internal investigation, in order to address any areas of improvement deemed necessary,” said Okimoto.
Okimoto extended thoughts and prayers “to the officers who were injured in the incident, and their families.”
Council member Calvin Say told the Star-Advertiser that transparency and accountability are “paramount in fostering a sense of security and trust within our community,” Say said.
“In the interest of public safety and transparency, it is essential that the public be informed about significant incidents, while not compromising law enforcement’s efforts to manage active incidents,” said Say.
On Thursday, Waters walked Logan through a timeline of events from Jan. 1 cobbled together by social media posts and news reports. He asked the chief about why certain events were initially classified the way they were and when notifications to the public were made.
“Someone took a bullet? And the person (who shot them) was at large?” Waters asked Logan.
“Yes,” replied the chief.
“At what point would you notify the public that someone was shot and the shooter was at large?” asked Waters.
Logan responded that whatever the initial report is, officers at the scene would work it, refer it to the detectives and then work collaboratively to verify any information before it went out.
“We have the benefit of … being able to look at this on the other side of the incident. What you’re bringing up is all information we have after the fact,” said Logan. “Our perceptions are somewhat different as it is happening and as our officers are going through this information and trying to conduct an investigation.”
Cordero told Logan that social media was ablaze with incomplete snippets of information during the chaotic events of New Year’s Day. She urged HPD to take advantage of the narrative with accurate, timely information.
“We get contacted because they think we possibly know everything. … We also rely on public information from our agencies,” said Cordero. “I think people reaching out to us actively shows people want to be alert and do care.”
Council member Esther Kia‘aina asked Logan on Thursday, “What happens if this happens tonight or tomorrow without an established process in place to learn from the lessons of Jan. 1?”
Logan replied that the department is completing the investigation and assessing how best to communicate critical incidents in real time. He cautioned that police will not put out information until they have time to investigate and verify.
“If it happens right now, this minute, the information is … not going to come out until we conduct an investigation and have the facts … and that takes time … and that’s either in our favor or not,” replied Logan.
The Council committee voted to advance the amended resolution for further consideration.
