4211 Waialae Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96816
ph: 808-218-1025
george
In Hawaii Surveillance Investigation can be constructed to:
Observe physical activities in progress
Observe daily routine or activities
Identify associates
Find or locate individuals
Protect Witnesses
Verify Statements
Prevent a crime from being committed
Apprehend a criminal in the act
Recover stolen property
- Close surveillance: The primary objective is the continuous observation of the target without regard to whether the target knows he is under surveillance. Primarily for Protection or TRO Enforcement.
- Rough surveillance: This is conducted in such a manner as to ensure that the target does not become aware of the surveillance activity.
3. Foot or Vehicle
HRS: SURVEILLANCE LAWS IN HAWAII
Hawaii has two types of laws applying to secret recording: an eavesdropping law and a privacy statute. One-party consent is generally acceptable, but the privacy law includes provisions against the installation of surveillance equipment. That situation has led to a strange split in the law: It would be legal for an investigator to wear a wire to record her own conversation, but she cannot "plant" a bug or a video camera in the room to record the same conversation.
Eavesdropping Consent
It is legal for a person to intercept communication when the person is a party to the communication or when one of the parties to the communication has given prior consent to the interception, unless the communication is intercepted for the purpose of committing a criminal or tortious (wrongful) act. The consent of one of the parties is not enough if a recording or amplifying device is installed in a private place; the consent of the people entitled to privacy there must be obtained. (See the privacy statute, below.)
What is covered
The state statute specifically includes cellular telephone communications, but the radio portions of cordless telephone communications are not protected.
It is legal to intercept a radio communication that is transmitted by any governmental, law enforcement, civil defense, private land mobile, or public safety communications system, including police and fire department systems, that is "readily accessible" to the general public. Readily accessible means, among other things, that the communication is not scrambled or encrypted. Interception of amateur, citizens band and general mobile radio services communications is also legal.
It is illegal in Hawaii to possess a device primarily useful for surreptitious interception of wire, oral or electronic communications. Illegal devices can be seized and forfeited to the state.
Criminal and civil penalties
Violation of any of the above laws is a class C felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of $10,000.
Someone whose communication is illegally intercepted, disclosed or used can sue for injunctive relief or damages. Damages may be assessed in the amount of either actual damages plus any profits made by the violator, or statutory damages calculated at $100 for each day of violation or $10,000, whichever is higher. Punitive damages, reasonable attorney's fees and court costs are also available.
Privacy
Hawaii's privacy statute outlaws the following:
Sources
Hawaii Revised Statutes Sections 7111-111, 803-41 to 803-43, 803-47.5 to 803-48 (1997); State v. Lo, 675 P.2d 754 (Haw. 1983); State v. Lee, 686 P.2d 816 (Haw. 1984).
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Call or Text (808) 218-1025
email:
george@theinvestigatorsllc.com
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4211 Waialae Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96816
ph: 808-218-1025
george