How to get police and traffic camera video of a crash in Hawaii

The public records law that gets you the video

Uniform Information Practices Act (Modified), HRS chapter 92F

Reply in 10 business days (OIP rules)

Who may ask: any person may ask to inspect and copy government records, and you do not have to say why (HRS §92F-11; OIP’s Basic Q&A). “Government record” means information maintained by an agency in written, auditory, visual, electronic or other physical form (§92F-3), which OIP says includes video tapes, and all government records are open unless access is restricted or closed by law (§92F-11(a)). How to ask: OIP tells requesters to send a written request directly to the agency that holds the record, with contact information, a description of the record and how you want to receive it; its model Request to Access a Government Record form may be used. A written or electronic request with your contact information, a reasonable description of the record and a request to inspect or copy it is a formal request under OIP’s rules (HAR §2-71-12). Deadline: for a record that is public in its entirety the agency must disclose it within a reasonable time not to exceed ten business days; for other records, including ones it will redact, it must send a notice within ten business days and disclose within five business days after the notice or after any prepayment (HAR §2-71-13(a), (b)). If extenuating circumstances exist (it must consult others, the request needs extensive search, review or segregation, more time is needed to avoid unreasonable interference with its other duties, or a natural disaster or other situation beyond its control prevents a timely response), it may send a written acknowledgment within ten business days and then must send the notice within twenty business days after it received the request, and it may disclose in increments (HAR §§2-71-13(c), 2-71-15). A notice denying access must name the specific record or parts withheld and the specific legal authority (HAR §2-71-14(b)). If the agency asks you to clarify or prepay, answer within 20 business days or your request is considered abandoned, OIP says. Fees: copies cost not less than 5 cents per page (HRS §92-21). For search the agency may charge $2.50 per fifteen minutes, and for review and segregation (for example, blurring or redacting video) $5 per fifteen minutes, but it may not assess the first $30 of those fees; it must waive $60 of the fees when, on a request supported by a statement of facts, it finds that a waiver serves the public interest, and it may require prepayment of 50 percent of estimated search, review and segregation fees when they exceed $30 and 100 percent of other costs (HAR §§2-71-19, 2-71-31, 2-71-32). OIP’s August 2025 manual says other lawful costs include the actual cost of a CD or videotape used to copy a record. Your own record: an individual asking for a personal record about himself or herself must be allowed to review and copy it within ten working days, extendable by twenty working days with a written explanation (HRS §92F-23); in U Memo 25-10 (December 9, 2024), on a personal record request for copies of body-worn camera recordings, OIP concluded that the search, review and segregation fees in HAR §2-71-31 do not apply to personal record requests. Proposed change: OIP has proposed repealing HAR chapters 2-71 and 2-73 and replacing them with chapters 3-200 and 3-201, which would raise the search, review and segregation fees for inflation and create a 100 percent fee waiver for requests that serve the public interest, provided the waiver is not unduly burdensome for the agency; a public hearing is set for December 1, 2026, and the current rules apply until any change takes effect.

Police body camera and dashcam video

No release statute; UIPA governs

No Hawaii statute specifically governs public release, viewing or retention of police body-worn camera or dashcam video: we searched every section of the Hawaii Revised Statutes and the 2024 to 2026 session laws. A 2016 bill to set body and vehicle camera rules for county police (S.B. 2411) was deferred in conference. So the UIPA governs, and its exceptions let an agency withhold records whose disclosure would be a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, records that must be confidential to avoid frustrating a legitimate government function, records about a court or quasi-judicial case the State or a county is or may be a party to, to the extent they would not be discoverable, and records protected by other law or a court order (HRS §92F-13). Information identifiable as part of an investigation into a possible violation of criminal law, and medical information, are listed examples of significant privacy interests, but disclosure is not an unwarranted invasion when the public interest outweighs the privacy interest (§92F-14). Video of yourself: you can ask for it as your own personal record (§92F-23), but an agency need not give you records of a crime-prevention agency that were prepared for a criminal investigation or at any stage of criminal enforcement, or investigative reports and materials related to an upcoming, ongoing or pending civil or criminal action or administrative proceeding against you (§92F-22(1), (4)). Honolulu Police Department, example: its records page takes body-worn camera (BWC) requests by email to HPDbwcreq@honolulu.gov or by mail or in person at 801 South Beretania Street, asks for a color copy of your government ID, and warns that full audio and visual redactions may apply. Its Body-Worn Cameras policy (Policy 2.57, dated September 24, 2021) says release of BWC footage shall be considered only if release will not hamper or otherwise negatively affect a criminal investigation and is not protected from disclosure by law or court order, and it keeps BWC recordings thirteen months from the recording date, with exceptions: recordings with evidentiary or exculpatory value for a criminal or civil case are kept for the applicable statute of limitations or until final disposition of the case, whichever is shorter; recordings under a preservation order or litigation hold are kept until the hold is lifted or by court order; and recordings of a use of force, or of an encounter that drew a complaint or an administrative investigation, are kept at least three years. Hawaii Police Department, example: body worn camera requests must be in writing, for review and approval by the Chief’s office, sent to hcpdone@hawaiipolice.gov. Coming in 2027: beginning January 1, 2027, an officer who starts a vehicular pursuit must immediately activate the emergency lights, siren, headlights, motor vehicle recorder and body-worn camera, and agencies will report to the Attorney General whether body and dashboard cameras were active and whether the pursuit ended in a crash (§139-13(b)(5), (e), (f)). Also ask for the 911 call: each county public safety answering point must keep recordings of all 911 calls and radio dispatches for at least one year (§46-1.7).

When police can hold video back

May be withheld; no set end date

The frustration exception, HRS §92F-13(3), lets an agency withhold records that by their nature must be confidential to avoid frustrating a legitimate government function. OIP’s August 2025 UIPA manual gives as an example law enforcement records whose disclosure could reasonably be expected, in some particular, discernable way, to interfere with pending enforcement proceedings, and says access to investigative records before an investigation is concluded could frustrate a legitimate government function where the target could get premature access to the government’s case, witnesses could face reprisal or harassment, evidence could be destroyed, or witnesses could become unwilling to talk. The statute sets no date when that protection ends; the manual ties it to pending or prospective proceedings. Separately, the privacy example for information identifiable as part of a criminal investigation applies except to the extent disclosure is necessary to prosecute the violation or to continue the investigation (§92F-14(b)(2)), and for your own record, §92F-22(1) and (4) let an agency deny access to criminal investigation and enforcement reports and to investigative materials for a pending action against you. County practice: Honolulu says reports are releasable when the investigative processes are complete and the case is closed; Hawaii County says complete criminal reports are not available until the case is closed, adjudicated or the statute of limitations has passed, though a victim needing a report for insurance may get a partial report; Kauai says most reports are releasable once all investigative processes are complete and the case is closed. Crash reports themselves go to the people listed in §291C-20 (drivers, injured people, owners, their authorized representatives and others), and that section controls over chapter 92F. If someone died, each surviving immediate family member is entitled on request to the investigating police department’s closing report after the criminal proceedings end, five years after the report was completed, or seven years after the incident, whichever comes first, unless the investigation was reopened in the six months before the request (§52D-18).

Do traffic cameras in Hawaii record?

No official recording statement found

GoAkamai, the traveler information site that the Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) and the City and County of Honolulu Department of Transportation Services (DTS) run together, shows traffic camera snapshots updated every few minutes and live video streams that play for 30 seconds, with streaming currently limited to Oahu, and its camera list includes Maui areas. Neither GoAkamai’s FAQ and disclaimer nor HDOT’s pages that we read say whether those cameras record or keep video, so we found no official statement either way. If a state highway or Honolulu camera may have seen the crash, send a written UIPA request at once to HDOT (state highways) and to DTS (city streets on Oahu), naming the camera location, date and time, and ask them to preserve anything that exists. HDOT’s red-light and speed safety cameras are separate systems, covered below.

Red-light and speed cameras

Red-light and speed cameras, Oahu

Authorized by statute. Red-light cameras: chapter 291J authorizes a photo red light imaging detector systems program, and registered owners are strictly liable for their vehicle’s compliance with signals at intersections monitored by such a system (HRS §§291J-2, 291J-4, 291J-7, 291C-32(c)). Since 2026 Act 94 (S.B. 3157, approved June 5, 2026, effective on approval), a “county” for the program means any county with a population of five hundred thousand or more, and new camera locations are capped (§§291J-1, 291J-2, 291L-2(b) as amended). HDOT’s Red-Light Safety Program page lists ten intersections live for citations since 2022 and 2023, and HDOT describes them as downtown Honolulu intersections. Speed cameras: chapter 291L, added in 2024, has the State run an automated speed enforcement program; HDOT says the safety cameras at those 10 downtown Honolulu intersections began issuing speed citations on November 1, 2025, after warnings since March 2025. Act 94 now limits the program to counties with a population of five hundred thousand or more, lets it expand to high-risk locations HDOT picks from its studies, and caps new enforcement locations at ten a year statewide and two a year in any one state senatorial district (§291L-2 as amended). Neither system may use facial recognition (§§291J-5.5, 291L-4.5). A noise-detection traffic camera pilot created in 2023 was repealed on December 31, 2025 (chapter 291 note, L 2023, c 63). Access to images: HDOT says the ticketed vehicle owner can review the images and video on the online portal after the citation arrives, and that each speed event includes a 12-second video. All personal and confidential information from these systems must be kept confidential and used only for the purposes it was furnished for, and an official or contractor who discloses it without authorization can be fined up to $500 (§§291J-11, 291L-9); the images must be available for inspection in any proceeding to decide liability for the violation (§§291J-5(c), 291L-4(c)). HDOT’s red-light rule has the vendor make the images available to the registered owner and remove and dispose of all images once the court says the case is resolved (HAR §19-151-7). We found no provision giving a crash victim access, so ask HDOT in writing quickly; you may want to ask a lawyer about a subpoena if a lawsuit is filed.

If your request is denied

OIP appeal within 1 year, or court

No response or an incomplete one: if 10 business days have passed without a proper response, OIP offers free help through a Request for Assistance, in which it reminds the agency of its duties; email or mail OIP with a copy of your request and every response. Denial: you may appeal to the Office of Information Practices (HRS §92F-15.5), which reviews and rules on denials (§92F-42(1)); its review is free, informal and optional, and does not stop you from going to court afterward. An appeal of a denial of a written request must be filed within one year after you receive the written denial or partial denial, or, if the agency never responds in writing, after the last day of its response period, and it must describe the records and include a copy of the denial or your statement that the agency did not respond (HAR §2-73-12). If OIP decides the record must be disclosed, the agency must make it available; if OIP upholds the denial, it must tell you in writing of your right to sue (§92F-15.5(b)). Court: you may sue the agency in circuit court within two years after the denial; the court decides de novo, may review the record in camera, the agency must prove its justification, and if you prevail the court shall award reasonable attorney’s fees and expenses (§92F-15(a) to (d)). For your own personal record the action must be brought within two years after the denial or OIP’s final determination (§92F-27(f)). When you file, notify OIP in writing (§92F-15.3). OIP is at No. 1 Capitol District Building, 250 S. Hotel Street, Suite 107, Honolulu, HI 96813, (808) 586-1400, oip@hawaii.gov; it has been administratively attached to the Department of Accounting and General Services since July 1, 2016, and its website is at ags.hawaii.gov/oip.

What to do now

1. 1

   Send a written UIPA request today

   Ask the responding police department for body camera and dashcam video, with date, time, place and report number; Honolulu takes these at HPDbwcreq@honolulu.gov.

2. 2

   Ask for the 911 call and dispatch audio

   County 911 centers must keep 911 call and radio dispatch recordings at least one year; include them in your request.

3. 3

   Write to HDOT and Honolulu DTS about cameras

   No official page says whether traffic cameras record, so ask both in writing at once and request preservation.

4. 4

   Ask OIP for help after 10 business days

   If the agency has not responded, OIP’s free Request for Assistance can prompt it; a denial can be appealed to OIP within one year.

5. 5

   Post the crash on the bounty board

   Dashcam and business camera footage is not in any public agency’s files and is often overwritten within days.

Frequently asked questions