Use of the Honolulu Police Department’s (HPD)
telecommunications system shall be restricted
to official police business and that which is
directly related to public safety and the
protection of life and property.

CALL NUMBERS

As personnel changes occur, element commanders
shall submit call number lists to the Communications
Division, which shall maintain a current master
radio call list for the department.

RADIO EQUIPMENT

A. HPD radio equipment shall not be altered,
modified, marked, programmed, installed, relocated,
or repaired by any unauthorized person.

B. Service and maintenance records shall be
maintained as required by Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) regulations.

C. Officers shall be accountable for their
issued radio equipment and take precautionary
measures to ensure that there is no unauthorized
use of police radios.

Officers shall immediately notify the
Communications Division and the Telecommunications
Systems Section (TSS) if their radio equipment
is lost, stolen, or cannot be accounted for so
that the radio can be disabled. A police report
shall be initiated for the radio that is unaccounted
for. Providing the police report number to the
TSS is required in order to obtain a replacement radio.

D. Officers shall be assigned portable radios
according to the elements to which they are assigned.

1. Specialized Elements

Officers in the Major Events Division,
Narcotics/Vice Division, Specialized Services
Division, Professional Standards
Office, Intelligence Enforcement Unit, Crime
Reduction Unit, Rapid Deployment Force,
shall receive portable radios from their elements.

The specialized elements listed above shall
maintain their respective inventory of radio
equipment assigned to their personnel. Element
commanders shall ensure that the TSS is notified
within two weeks of any officer transferring to
or out of their specialized element. Element
commanders shall also ensure that the TSS is
notified as soon as practical any time radio
equipment is reassigned. The TSS shall update
the radio system database to reflect the change
of radio assignment.

a. When an officer is transferred or
reassigned to one of the specialized elements
listed above from a nonspecialized element,
the officer shall turn in the portable radio
that he or she has been using to the TSS and
hall receive another one from their new element.

b. When an officer is transferred or
reassigned from one of the specialized
elements to a nonspecialized element, the
officer shall turn in the portable radio
that he or she has been using to the
specialized element he or she is transferring
out of and shall receive another one from the TSS.

c. When an officer is transferred or
reassigned from one of the specialized
elements to another specialized element,
the officer shall turn in the portable
radio that he or she has been using to
the specialized element he or she is
transferring out of and shall receive
another one from their new element.

d. When an officer with a subsidized
vehicle is transferred or reassigned to
one of the specialized elements, the officer
shall have his or her mobile radio reprogrammed
by the TSS for the appropriate element within
two weeks of starting with their new element.

2. Nonspecialized Elements

Officers in all other elements shall receive
portable radios from the TSS.

a. When the officer is transferred or
reassigned from one division-level element
to another (neither of which is one of the
specialized elements listed above) the
officer shall retain his or her portable
radio. The officer shall ensure that his
or her portable radio is reprogrammed for
the appropriate element within two weeks
of starting with their new element.

b. When an officer with a subsidized
vehicle is transferred or reassigned from
one division-level element to another
(neither of which is one of the specialized
elements listed above), the officer shall
ensure that his or her mobile radio is
reprogrammed by the TSS for the appropriate
element within two weeks of starting with their new element.

E. The Chief of Police may require officers
to turn in their portable radios for specified periods of time.

F. When an officer separates from the
department, he or she shall return the
portable radio and its accessories to the
element from which he or she received the
equipment. Motorized officers shall also
make an appointment with the TSS to have
the mobile radio removed from his or her
vehicle (see Policy 4.13, POLICE VEHICLES).

G. When an officer experiences problems
with the portable or mobile radio, he or she
shall bring it to the TSS for repair. If the
repair is time consuming, the officer shall
be issued another radio.

OPERATIONS

A. Radio messages shall be monitored
by the commander of the Communications
Division or a designee to ensure against
violations of departmental and FCC rules
and regulations. Any transmission that
interferes with the operation of the station
or regulation of air time may be terminated
by order of the Communications Division
commander or a designee.

B. Officers shall verbally test with
the Communications Division dispatcher by
providing his or her call sign (last name
and identification number).

C. The Communications Division shall
be responsible for the initial assignment
of field units to investigate or handle
cases as necessary and shall be apprised
of activities at the scene. Officers shall
acknowledge the assignment and inform the
dispatcher when he or she arrives or leaves the scene.

D. If attempts to communicate with an
officer fail, the Communications Division
commander or a designee and the field
supervisor shall be notified. The officer’s
last known position shall be given to the
field supervisor to facilitate a search.

E. Multicast broadcasts shall be made
to notify all available units of an event
and for calls that require maximum field unit response.

F. The appropriate Communications
Division dispatcher shall be notified by
every field officer going on or off the
radio or entering or leaving a district
talk group or channel except under exigent circumstances.

G. In the event of a communication
link failure that prevents field units
from communicating with the Communications
Division, the dispatcher shall switch to
the alternate means of communications for the patrol district.

When there is a communication system
failure as indicated by the radio display
(“CC or WA SCAN”) that prevents field
units from communicating with each other
and with the Communications Division, the
field units shall resort to the “talk
around” method in order to communicate
with each other in the field directly,
radio to radio. Maps have been distributed
to all district patrol commands showing
where to position vehicles in order to
relay voice communications among field units
and with their district stations.

H. The department is governed by
Part 90, Federal Communications Rules
Governing Public Safety Radio Services;
a copy shall be maintained in the TSS at all times.