HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Honolulu's interim police chief is opposing allowing the media to have access to police radio scanners, despite sounding open to it last month.
Newly appointed interim Chief Rade Vanic is under pressure from the Honolulu City Council and the local broadcast industry.
The Hawaii Association of Broadcasters produced an announcement running on local television stations.
It says the lack of real-time information that used to come to newsrooms via police and fire department radio scanners has prevented the media from informing the public during emergencies.
"Our shared goal is to keep the community safe," the announcement says.
Last year, after no information was released while police chased and finally killed an armed fugitive on Oahu, The city council adopted a resolution asking first responders to consider restoring media access to scanners. , which then-Chief Joe Logan resisted.
Bill 46 from Council Chair Tommy Waters would force the department to work out agreements with news organizations to access scanner communications.
President of the Hawaii Association of Broadcasters, Chris Leonard, said the department's concerns are shared by media outlets.
"We can set up policies and procedures. We can work with the police department for credentialing and specific sets of rules that protect the things that they are concerned about," he said.
At the bill's first reading in June, HPD telecommunications manager Roy Kuroda repeated Logan's concerns about personal information being leaked and officer safety being jeopardized.
Real-time access to dispatch or tactical challenges presents serious risks. It is not compatible with federal security requirements or the operational realities of officers in the field," he said. "We remain committed to transparency, but not at the expense of officer investigations, integrity, or the privacy of victims or witnesses.
But minutes later, Deputy Chief Rade Vanic, who would become interim chief two weeks later, sounded open to it.
"There are a lot of departments that have been able to figure it out," he said.
Vanic said he wanted to work with media companies to ensure the department's concerns were met.
"But we also have a job to keep the community safe and part of that is being able to allow the media access to our radio because they provide critical information to the public when sometimes we cannot," he said then.
West Oahu council member Andria Tupola was pleased with what sounded like a new position from the changing department leadership.
"I hear you giving a commitment that you are going to help the introducer (Chair Waters) and the council to find the middle ground because we need to do more to keep the public informed," she said.
But on Monday, when contacted by Hawaii News Now, Vanic issued the following statement:
HPD acknowledges the need for the public and media to be aware of crime alerts, and our team is actively working on solutions to provide this service quickly and effectively. We believe in the importance of timely, accurate information and fully support efforts to keep our community informed.
However, providing the media with direct access to police radio dispatches raises serious concerns related to operational security, officer safety, and the risk of misinterpreting real-time information.
For these reasons, we respectfully oppose Bill 46 in its current form and encourage the City Council to explore alternative solutions that uphold transparency while also safeguarding sensitive law enforcement communications.
The council will have a chance to question both Vanic and media representatives at a hearing of the Public Safety Committee on Thursday.
The officers union, SHOPO, issued its own statement: "We support the goal of transparency in Bill 46, provided that the final policy clearly protects officer safety, ongoing investigations, and other sensitive police operations. We hope the final version of the bill strikes a fair balance between the objectives of transparency and safety."
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