Oahu crime down
10 percent in ’98

The deputy police chief credits
the community for the
steady decline

By James K. Song
Star-Bulletin

Crime rates on Oahu have continued to fall this year despite the slumping economy, a police force unhappy with pay and increased use of crystal methamphetamine.

Overall crime for the first nine months has dropped 10.2 percent from the period a year earlier, according to a report released this week by the Honolulu Police Department. The figure includes an 11.4 percent drop in violent crimes and a 10.1 percent reduction in property crimes.

Deputy Police Chief William Clark credits the community for the declines.

Neighborhoods becoming more active by having patrols, picking up litter and creating programs for youths all have an impact on crime, he said.

"It starts with the individual in the community," Clark said. "It's their involvement in taking pride and taking back their community from those who tried to destroy their quality of life."

Mayor Jeremy Harris said Honolulu has recorded three consecutive years of double-digit declines in crime.

"This fine record belongs to the men and women in blue and to those community volunteers who have been working with law enforcement to make our streets and neighborhoods safe," he said.

Sam Bren, chairman of the Waikiki Neighborhood Board, said he has noticed a significant drop in crime in Waikiki.

He credits the thousands of residents actively involved in neighborhood watches and the Aloha Patrol. With the installation of surveillance cameras and 24-hour information booths, Bren believes crime rates will continue to drop.

"It shows the neighborhood cares," Bren said. "If we can't keep anybody safe in Waikiki, maybe we won't have anybody in Waikiki."

Clark said a secondary factor reducing crime is career criminals being locked up for longer sentences.

According to HPD statistics, every category reported a decline. The largest drops were in murder (29.6 percent), burglaries (16.4 percent) and car thefts (14.8 percent).

Lt. Allen Napoleon, head of HPD's homicide detail, recognized the decline, but doesn't know why.

Murder cases involving couples still make up one-third of the cases, which is similar to last year, he added. The lighter case load has allowed his eight detectives to work on unsolved murders. However, they remain busy responding to all the other death cases -- including accidental, medical and suicides -- on the island.

Only rape (2.4 percent), theft (7.8 percent) and aggravated assault (8.9) recorded drops of less than 10 percent.

Clark, the deputy police chief, said just a quarter of Oahu residents being active in their neighborhoods has a much bigger presence and impact in deterring crime than HPD's 2,000 officers.

In Kalihi, everything is going well because of the neighborhood watches, anti-vandalism programs and residents just looking out for each other, said Bernadette Young, chairwoman of the Neighborhood Board.

But Young admits that Kalihi does have one unsolvable crime problem that is shaking the community -- "people are stealing fruit off of the trees."