Posted on: Friday, January 18, 2002

Power surge knocks out police radio

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

A power surge and faulty equipment disrupted police radio communications in parts of O'ahu for up to 45 minutes Wednesday night, according to police.

The Honolulu Police Department learned of the problem at about 11:45 p.m. and restored communications at about 12:30 a.m. yesterday, acting Assistant Chief Karl Godsey said.

The problem affected police communications in Central Hono-

lulu, Pearl City, Kalihi and East Honolulu, Godsey said. Officers in East Honolulu endured the longest disruption, waiting about 45 minutes until communication was restored.

Godsey said he believed that no emergency calls were missed during the disruption because officers found other ways to communicate with dispatchers by using cellular phones.

"Initially, for a few minutes, all districts had problems," Godsey said. "This is something we have no control over. If a transformer blows somewhere and the collateral effect is that it takes out the power to the radio system, there's not going to be any power to the radio system until we hook it back together again."

The communications disruption could have been avoided if the backup system had kicked in, Godsey said, but the equipment that should have activated the backup system was damaged.

Detective Alex Garcia, frustrated with the communications system, said yesterday that he couldn't contact dispatchers about a speeding motorist Wednesday night.

"I think there should be an independent audit of the communication system," Garcia said. "It's inexcusable. The system has to work.

"If the backup system doesn't work, something is wrong. These problems have happened to us too many times."