Recording the Police and Others
HRS 711-1111 — filming an officer at work in public is protected; a party may record a conversation
The privacy offense for devices in private places expressly does not prohibit anyone from making a video or audio recording, or taking a photograph, of a law enforcement officer performing duties in a public place, or anywhere the officer has no reasonable expectation of privacy, so long as the person is not interfering with the officer's ability to keep safety and control, secure crime and accident scenes, protect investigations, and protect the public.
Who handles this in Hawaii: Hawaii State Bar Association, Lawyer Referral and Information Service; and legal aid programs and the state offices, listed in the Hawaii directory.
A person not acting under color of law may intercept a wire, oral or electronic communication when that person is a party to it, or when one of the parties has given prior consent, unless it is intercepted to commit a criminal or tortious act.
- Intentionally intercepting a communication outside those rules, or disclosing or using one knowing it was unlawfully intercepted, is a class C felony.
- An oral communication is protected where the speaker shows an expectation that it will not be intercepted, in circumstances that justify the expectation.
Private places are different. Without consent of the people entitled to privacy there, installing or using any device in a private place to observe or record sounds or events, or a device outside it to capture sounds not ordinarily audible outside, is violation of privacy in the second degree.
Sources for this section (3)
- HRS 711-1111 — Violation of privacy in the second degree
- HRS 803-42 — Interception, access, and disclosure of wire, oral, or electronic communications, use of pen register, trap and trace device, and mobile tracking device prohibited
- HRS 803-41 — Definitions
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Hawaii attorney.