City officials plan to more than double the video surveillance at Ala Moana Regional Park.
HONOLULU (KHON2) — City officials plan to more than double the video surveillance at Ala Moana Regional Park.
Several cameras have been in operation for years, but officials plan to install dozens more.
A total of 23 surveillance cameras are already rolling in Ala Moana Regional Park. City officials said they are always recording, but footage is only reviewed by authorities after a crime is reported. Home security experts said that is not unusual.
“Usually we don’t have the manpower for somebody to sit there and watch it all the time, unless it’s a private company or a private security guard watching over these thing, I doubt they’ll be watched,” said Security Alarm Shop president Joey Ching.
In 2016, several cameras were installed around restrooms and one of the L&L locations in Ala Moana, but the City plans to install 25 more in less than 10 days and the Neighborhood Board said they were never notified.
“I learned about it from you and not anywhere else,” said Ala Moana Neighborhood Board chair Kathleen Lee. “As far as cost goes, we don’t know that as well. Again, we just learned about it. We, I, the community just learned about this. So we don’t know how much the cameras are going to cost.”
The Department of Parks and Recreation said they will have 165 cameras that monitor 16 parks once the new Ala Moana ones are installed.
The Neighborhood Board chair said she is all in favor of deterring crime, but feels the lack of public input on installing surveillance cameras at a public park is troubling.
“And I do hope that there will be more transparency when it comes to letting us know how the footage on the cameras are going to be used and how we again, as a community will be able to actually weigh in,” Lee said.
Those in the private security industry said it is not standard to get public approval for public surveillance, even when taxpayer dollars are used for installation.
“Not normally,” Ching said, “they just pretty much do it and announce it. So, I mean, not a lot of input is taken from the community as far as I’ve seen.”
The new cameras are scheduled to begin operating and recording on Sunday, Oct. 12. The public can weigh in on the plan to the Honolulu City Council or the Facilites Maintenance Department at the addresses below:
Honolulu City Council Chair Tommy Waters
530 South King Street, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96813
Department of Facilities Maintenance director Gene Albano
100 Ulu’ohia Street, Suite 215, Kapolei, Hawaii, 96707