Maui council committee hears presentation and hundreds of public comments on facial recognition and license‑plate readers

Chair Tamara Poulton opened the Disaster Recovery, International Affairs and Planning Committee meeting to consider two bills: Bill 1(12)‑2026, which would restrict county law enforcement use of facial recognition technology (FRT) to documented criminal investigations and treat any match only as an investigative lead; and Bill 1(13)‑2026, which would prohibit sale and commercial use of automated license plate reader data and require county contracts to block vendor reuse.

The Maui Police Department presented how both technologies work and the safeguards MPD says it follows. Lieutenant Taylor Komakovivo Ole told the committee that the department “does not have any facial recognition” in routine systems and that FRT “cannot establish probable cause on its own” and must be corroborated by investigators. Officer Aaron Mark described ALPR cameras as tools that capture plate characters, an image, time and location and generate hot‑list alerts for stolen vehicles or missing persons; he showed examples of timely recoveries.

Prosecuting Attorney Andy Martin said he supports the bills’ intent to create a criminal nexus and accountability but cautioned against drafting that would improperly limit judicial standards. “I strongly caution against any attempt to limit what the courts would determine with respect to what facts constitute reasonable suspicion or probable cause,” he told the committee.

The meeting then moved to oral testimony, and dozens of residents and civic groups urged the council either to ban the systems or to require far stronger transparency, auditable logs and short data‑retention limits. Jake Carton of Maui Indivisible told the committee the proposals contain loopholes and asked the council to disclose contracts and grant deliverables tied to surveillance funding. Managing Director Josiah Nishita said the county had no known contracts with one widely discussed vendor (Flock) and offered to follow up.

The committee did not vote. Members and counsel agreed to draft and review amendment language; the meeting recessed and will reconvene at 9:00 a.m. the next day to continue deliberations.