Posted on: Thursday, November 15, 2001

City spent $2 million on security, dengue

By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser City Hall Writer

The city administration reported to the City Council yesterday that increased security measures for Honolulu since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the Mainland and the response to an outbreak of dengue fever have cost taxpayers more than $2 million.

City Budget and Fiscal Services director Carroll Takahashi said that overtime costs for public officials, including police, fire and emergency medical services personnel rose to about $1.6 million. She said dengue fever prevention measures such as massive rubbish cleanups and mosquito eradication cost an additional $500,000.

Assistant Police Chief Boisse Correa said part of the expense has been adding police surveillance at 16 sites.

Although he declined to name them specifically for security reasons, Mayor Jeremy Harris has indicated that security was increased at airports, water and sewer plants and other public facilities.

Correa estimated the additional security costs to police at nearly $700,000 in overtime, much of it in the five days that followed the attacks. He said police are working to cut costs while increasing vigilance, "where we have officers, we're looking at putting cameras."

Fire Chief Attilio Leonardi estimated $242,040 in increased costs but said the department has scaled back to normal operations now that the number of false alarms related to anthrax fears has decreased.

Takahashi said the city spent about $386,000 on emergency medical services costs that mostly cover the purchase of new testing equipment related to fears of bioterrorism.

Correa said the Honolulu Police Department generally has overtime costs of about $1 million a month separate from the attack-related fears. But Correa said he could not put an annual price on the increased security that is likely to continue. He said the department is looking at ways to decrease other expenses, possibly re-evaluating spending on training, travel and traffic enforcement that is not federally financed.

On a cheerier note, preparations for the city's annual Honolulu City Lights holiday display this week triumphed over some of the tightened security. City officials opted to suspend the identification checks and limited access to Honolulu Hale in preparation for some thousands of visitors expected this year.