Question: Whatever happened to the Honolulu Police Department web page where it posted photos of people arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence?
Answer: Police Capt. Andrew Lum said HPD has decided to permanently do away with the “Oahu’s Drunk Drivers” website that featured photos of people arrested for driving under the influence.
“We don’t feel the DUI website was an effective tool as a deterrent for drunk driving, but instead believe the continued enforcement efforts we make each day and weekend are,” Lum said in an email to the Star-Advertiser.
Operated by HPD’s Traffic Division, it was intended to serve as a deterrent against drunken driving. The photos and names of people arrested were posted every Wednesday for 24 hours. Originally intended to be a six-month pilot project, it ran from November 2009 to March 2010, when the department announced it was suspending the project pending a review.
The department then announced it “was reviewing the effectiveness of the pilot program, and that during the evaluation period the agency would not be posting the names and mug shots of drivers arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.”
Critics said the program was unconstitutional and infringed on a person’s right to a fair trial. The American Civil Liberties Union said innocent people are sometimes arrested and that, while HPD posted the photos for only 24 hours, private Web sites were keeping the photos online indefinitely.
Laurie Temple, staff attorney for the ACLU of Hawaii, said at the time, “As a privacy advocate, the ACLU is concerned about the Web publication of DUI photos — innocent people are sometimes arrested, and photos posted on the Web are likely to be around forever, even if the intention is to only post them for a short time. Unfortunately, the ACLU’s concern has proven to be valid now that social networking site users are re-posting the arrest photos.”
A Facebook fan page created by private citizens called “DUI Wednesdays” had the DUI mug shots posted indefinitely. The page had garnered 10,731 fans. One of the co-creators of the site said it was started in the interest of public awareness.
Lum’s email this week said “the photos previously could be copied from the Web site and were at the mercy of the person or people making copies.”
Additionally, he said, “We reconsidered posting DUI mugshots of individuals on our police website because these people have not yet been adjudicated for the offense they were arrested for. Everyone has a right to due process.”
This update was written by Gordon Y.K. Pang. Suggest a topic for “Whatever Happened To …” by writing Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-210, Honolulu 96813; call 529-4747; or email cityeditors@staradvertiser.com.
