HONOLULU -- In the two months since the Honolulu Police Department switched its radios to a new $40 million digital system, officers and dispatchers have reported numerous problems.

KITV 4 News has learned that the system cannot sustain the load of computer and voice data, resulting in shoddy service for officers in the field.

The new system is supposed to handle voice traffic on radios as well as data for mobile computers in police cars. Officers said the mobile computers are routinely shut down because the new system can't handle both radios and computers.

Just one week after the police department switched all of its radios to a new digital system in April it overloaded, forcing HPD to switch back to its old analog system.

Two months later, officers and dispatchers who use the system every day said it's still not working correctly.

They said there are still severe "dead spots" where dispatchers and officers cannot communicate, with reception coming in garbled and transmissions sounding like people are talking in tin cans.

KITV 4 News obtained a memo sent from a sergeant in Pearl City last month to his superiors, complaining about the persistent radio problem. The memo said that "it creates a vital hazard to officer safety."

Officers said it's routine for the computers in officers' cars to be inoperable every other day or for hours at a time.

The mobile computers are supposed to make information gathering quicker and more accurate so that officers can run license plates, do criminal background checks and other tasks themselves without burdening dispatchers.

However, because the mobile computers are so unreliable dispatchers are being called on to do those routine checks once again.

Dispatchers said the problems with the new system have made an already stressful job worse, leading many of them to call in sick. Some old-timers have quit and some trainees have dropped out.

Dispatchers tell KITV 4 News they're so shorthanded that managers are requiring dispatchers to work overtime every day. Dispatchers said anywhere from one to seven dispatchers are required to work overtime on top of their 12-hour shifts around the clock.

The dispatchers' union, the Hawaii Government Employees Association, has filed a grievance over the new computer-aided dispatch program.

The city originally budgeted $20 million for the new radio system but the pricetag for taxpayers has ballooned to $40-million as upgrades and improvements were made.

Through a spokeswoman, Assistant Police Chief Karl Godsey said he would only speak to KITV 4 News about the problem if it was during a live interview. The spokeswoman could not say why he made such an unusual request.

KITV 4 News turned it down, because there are numerous specific questions about problems with the new system that the news team could not address during a live broadcast.