In all, the department requested¹ more than $700,000 in so-called "non-lethal" or "less-lethal" weapon technologies in the last two years, according to Civil Beat's analysis of records obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii under the state's open records law. The ACLU provided Civil Beat with 42 pages of requests and invoices it received from the city.

"We're very concerned that if HPD believes it's in for a war, then officers will be hostile to all members of the public, even those who seek to peacefully exercise their First Amendment rights," Dan Gluck, senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Hawaii, told Civil Beat.

The Honolulu Police Department rebuffed repeated attempts to discuss the issue.

"For security reasons, we're pretty restricted in what we can say," HPD spokeswoman Michelle Yu told Civil Beat in an email. "I will forward your request to Assistant Chief (Greg) Lefcourt for his review."

Lefcourt has been tabbed as the local police lead on APEC preparations. Each time the Honolulu City Council has discussed a pending request from HPD to allow the installation of 30 temporary surveillance cameras around town to bolster the APEC security effort, it's been Lefcourt who has testified on behalf of the department.² When we attempted to reach him via telephone, we were told he was out of town.

An email sent to Police Chief Louis Kealoha Thursday was not returned as of Sunday. A message left at his office Friday was also not returned, and Civil Beat was told he's also off-island.

What Could Happen During APEC

The APEC summit is scheduled to take over Honolulu from Nov. 8 through 13. Delegates from 21 countries — including, of course, United States President Barack Obama — will descend upon Waikiki and Ko Olina for meetings. In all, the summit could draw some 20,000 government and business leaders, their family and friends and 2,000 journalists.

Protests are already in the works, and Honolulu officials might be worried about disturbances like the riots that occurred in Seattle when that city hosted World Trade Organization meetings in 1999.

But with no indication that the APEC summit will draw that type of violence, Gluck said the ACLU is focused more on how Honolulu handles peaceful protests.

"I think our biggest concern is that the officers receive proper training on how to use the new technologies and that there are guidelines in place to ensure they aren't used cavalierly," he said. "We are far more interested in having peaceful, uneventful demonstrations during APEC than we are with a lawsuit after the fact."

Gluck cited the case of an animal rights protester arrested for distributing literature on a public sidewalk near a circus performance in Philadelphia. When she refused a police order to move further away from the circus, she was handcuffed, held for hours and cited for disorderly conduct, though she was later cleared of all charges.

A similar episode happened recently here in Honolulu, when police cited topless protestors on a Waikiki sidewalk for failing to obtain a permit. The ACLU has argued the citations represent a violation of First Amendment rights, and Gluck said the incident "shows that HPD has a long way to go in terms of training."

In the Philadelphia incident, the ACLU's settlement with the city included an agreement that officers would undergo extra free speech training — a relatively small price to pay. Any lawsuits filed against HPD for civil rights violations stemming from the inappropriate use of weapons during APEC could be very costly to Honolulu taxpayers, Gluck said.

To be clear, not all of the weapons on the list were purchased explicitly for APEC. Here's the text of the open records request, according to the ACLU:

From November 1, 2009 to the present, all records evidencing the purchase, contract to purchase, or lease of any "non-lethal" or "less-lethal" weapons (e.g., Tasers), including but not limited to any impact weapon, sonic weapon, chemical agent, pepper ball, electronic restraint device, less lethal shotgun round, or any other weapon (other than firearms with traditional bullets) under HPD's use-of-force policy.

In responding to this request, the only information we are seeking at this time relating to each item purchased, leased, or under contract to be purchased is the following: (1) the name and address of the vendor or contractor selling or leasing the item; (2) the name and quantity of the item or items purchased; (3) the amount expended for each item on a per item basis; and (4) the total amount expended for the entire order. Thus, at this time, we are not seeking records or information related to the technical capabilities or potential uses of the item, the manner in which they were advertised, the manner in which the item will be deployed, internal communications regarding these devices or the purchase thereof, or any other information related to their use or potential use.

The records reveal that HPD has requested more than $400,000 worth of non-lethal and less-lethal weapons technologies just since mid-April of this year. In other words, the department was prepared to spend more on those weapons in the last five months than it did in the 17 previous months.

But even if HPD had APEC in mind when it purchased the equipment, the city will likely have the weapons on hand for years. Some of the invoices from suppliers explicitly state that hazardous materials cannot be returned.