The Chinatown cameras have been a fixture on street corners for years but have been of little use to law enforcement because of persistent technical problems. Now police say those problems have been fixed and the cameras are ready to be put to work identifying criminals and deterring crime.

All they need is a few more volunteers to monitor them.

"It's a great way to help the community," said Tiet, the first volunteer in years to be trained to use the cameras. "You get a chance to meet the police officers and talk with them."

Four video monitors are set up in a booth designed for volunteers near the receiving desk. Three screens show views from up to nine cameras each, and a central monitor gives a larger view of any individual camera selected by the operator.

The system was set up to be run by volunteers, said District 1 commander Maj. Kevin Lima. But with constant disruptions in service, volunteers became discouraged and drifted away. The system was seen by the community as a failure.

A new contractor was hired last year to make repairs to the camera system, and now all but one are fully operational.

"The cameras were put in to be monitored by the public, not the police officers," Lima said. "We are limited in terms of budget. Just to hire a police officer takes a long, long time, and we prefer them on the road patrolling in a uniform in a marked car rather than sitting in a substation monitoring cameras."

Lima said the volunteers are expected only to monitor the cameras and alert officers if they see something suspicious. He said if he had seven or eight volunteers working regularly in the late afternoons and early evenings, it could have a dramatic effect on crime.

"We know this is a high-crime area in terms of drug dealing, and we are here to protect the motorists and pedestrians in the area," he said. "The public has an opportunity to help us. This is one form of community service that can really assist the Police Department."

Screening exhaustive

In a letter to the editor published in The Advertiser on May 9, Howe complained that she was required to submit to a background check, which included a look at her tax returns, interviews, reference checks, and even an examination by a psychiatrist and a lie-detector test.

"Is there anyone out there who really wants someone to go through your whole life with a fine-tooth comb? Most of us are going to say no," Howe said. "I think the police have done a good job in Chinatown, and they could do better with people like me who volunteer to help. I just don't think they are going to find the people."

Motives scrutinized

Detective Richard Schaab, with the HPD human resources office, said there are more than 200 volunteers working with police and all of them have gone through the background checks. He said HPD has never required anyone to undergo a psychiatric exam or take a lie-detector test, but said they are fingerprinted and checked out thoroughly.

"We look for anything unusual," Schaab said. "Anything that will help us check out who this person is to make sure we have the right people in the job. (Howe) said it seems a little overkill, but you have to realize the power you might have with those cameras. If you are a drug dealer or running gambling operations downtown, that would be the perfect place to be."

Lima said criminals have attempted to infiltrate the department before. "We want people that apply and want to do video surveillance and don't have alternate motives," he said.

Lima said the city also has surveillance cameras in Waikiki that are staffed by the Waikiki Business Improvement District's Aloha Patrol. Hawaiian Electric Co. has its own cameras, as do many convenience stores and shopping centers.

"The technology has become more affordable in the last 25 years," he said. "If you are going to have a limited amount of personnel to secure areas, any major area is now going to have cameras to fight crime."

Lynne Matusow, chairwoman of the Downtown Neighborhood Board, said the community has been waiting a long time for the cameras to be put to good use.

"After five years of the board complaining about this, the new administration has finally got the problem solved and hopefully it will stay solved," Matusow said. "I'm hoping that it will drastically reduce the problems we are still having in small spots with the drug dealers."