OCCC inmate search timeline reveals major HPD, state communication gaps

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Newly obtained timelines reveal a major communication breakdown and hours-long delays between state and county officials during Wednesday’s manhunt for an escaped Oahu jail inmate.

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Joseph Tauilemua, 20, escaped from the Oahu Community Correctional Center in Kalihi during a visitation Wednesday morning.

The search lasted 10 hours before military police captured him at Pearl Harbor just before 8 p.m.

Timeline shows hours-long gap before public alert

Hawaii News Now obtained a detailed timeline from the Honolulu Police Department showing delays in communication from the Hawaii Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

HPD said DCR was designated as the lead agency and understood it would typically handle public messaging. According to HPD, “as time passed without a public alert from the lead agency, the public-safety concern increased.”

HPD said that “when no timely public message was issued early on, HPD acted — with executive approval — to address an immediate public-safety and information need. This was not an attempt to take over another agency’s role.”

DCR declines to comment; state law enforcement defers

Maj. Cliff Ramson, commander of HPD’s Major Events Division, said he could not speak to DCR’s processes but said HPD’s priority is to get information to the public as quickly as possible, especially in the interest of public safety.

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In response to multiple questions from Hawaii News Now, DCR director Johnson said: “Until the investigation has been completed, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall have no further comments as doing so may jeopardize the integrity of the investigatory process.”

The state Department of Law Enforcement said it accepted custody of the suspect but that DCR is handling everything else.

HPD deploys new drone program alongside helicopter

Newly released drone video from HPD shows officers and a police dog searching the area near Kamehameha Highway and Radford Drive.

The department launched its new drone program as part of the response, coordinating aerial assets with a live helicopter near a military installation.

Ramson said it was the first time the department coordinated a live helicopter alongside drone assets in that type of environment.

“From our SWAT team, sheriffs were heavily involved both on the ground and with the drone efforts,” Ramson said. “So there was a lot of moving pieces and a lot of things happening at once that required a lot of coordination.”

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Multiple agencies were involved in the search.