A problem that crept up on the Horios' Halawa district neighborhood about a year ago. It left them feeling violated and helpless.

Graffiti had been someone else's concern. But when one morning the Horios found the wall across the street from their Halawa Heights Road home smeared with graffiti, it became personal.

Since then, Dean Horio has spent countless hours and about $200 on chemicals to rid the wall of the graffiti. Lynn Horio walked a mile down the road from her home snapping pictures of the vandals' handiwork, later forwarding them to her City Council member.

Yesterday, the Horios joined about 80 residents from Aiea, Pearl City and surrounding neighborhoods for an informational forum on graffiti, crime and drugs.

"We have been victimized," said Lynn Horio, an office manager. "Police say that they can't do anything unless they see it happening and that's upsetting. Our community has been becoming unsightly. We want to find out what's happening and what we could do to deter this from happening over and over again."

Concerns like the Horios' led the Youth Gang Response System, a Department of Human Services Office of Youth Services program, to organize yesterday's forum.

The program was funded in 1990 to address the youth gang problems.

"I hope this inspires people to get together and coalesce with other community groups," said program specialist Olani Decker.

Aiea and Pearl City responses showed a great demand for the forum on gangs and graffiti, Decker said.

Several groups - Boys and Girls Club of Honolulu, Adult Friends for Youth, Kalihi YMCA - were on hand during yesterday's 11/2-hour forum. Residents heard from police officials and a University of Hawaii researcher, who said a spring study found that about 40 percent of Aiea seventh-graders reported having friends in gangs; nearly 20 percent reported having family members in gangs, and nearly 57 percent said they knew people in their neighborhoods who are gang members.

State Rep. K. Mark Takai (D, Aiea-Pearl City) said there may be heightened concern about gangs and graffiti in the 34th District, but that doesn't imply an increase in crime.

Residents are simply frustrated and are seeking a way to combat an old problem, he said.

"There are people in the community who to some extent feel powerless," he said.

The arrest of four 14-year-old boys last week in connection with defacing at least five Moanalua Freeway signs, which cost taxpayers $7,000 to $10,000 each, "puts a lot of students on notice," Takai said.

"The increase in graffiti, crime and drugs are related to youth gangs in the community," he said. "When (parents) see the gang signs all around (in graffiti), it makes them uncomfortable.

"It's been with us, but it's in (our) back yard now," he said.