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Vehicle thefts
increased 45%
during first half
of this year

Crime in Honolulu overall
increases by 10.7 percent,
compared to a 0.3 percent
decrease nationally

---

By Janine Tully
Star-Bulletin

Crime in Honolulu rose slightly in the first half of this year from a year before, with motor-vehicle thefts showing the biggest increase, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Motor-vehicle thefts jumped 45 percent to 2,657 in the latest six-month period from 1,833 a year earlier.

Paul Perrone, chief of research and statistics at the Crime Prevention and Justice Assistance Division of the Attorney General's Office, couldn't explain the jump in car thefts, but speculated more are being reported than before.

Perrone also noted that legal loopholes that existed before regarding stolen vehicles have been tightened. "In the early '90s, you had to get caught red-handed by police with a stolen car," he said.

Jean Motoyama, Honolulu Police Department spokeswoman, said police attribute the rise in car thefts to repeat offenders.

In addition, she said: "This year there's been a lot of cases involving juveniles who take their parents' cars without permission, and the parents report the vehicle stolen."

Motoyama said police also have seen an increase in domestic-type cases, in which a boyfriend or girlfriend has taken the vehicle.

Overall, the last two years were very low in crime, Motoyama said. "We are closer to 1997 figures."

Similarly, Perrone cautioned about reading too much into the latest crime figures, noting that Hawaii had an unprecedented drop the crime during 1999.

"(The year) 1999 was the low water mark for Hawaii," he said. "It had to bottom up sometime."

The figures released yesterday are part of the FBI's preliminary Uniform Crime Reporting Program. The report shows a 10.7 percent increase in Honolulu's crime index, compared to a 0.3 percent decrease nationally.

Crime on the rise

Honolulu crime increased 10.7 percent during the first six months of the year, compared with a year before, according to the FBI. Here is how it breaks down:

	2000	1999	% CHANGE
Murder	9	7	+28.5%
Rape	116	130	-10.8%
Robbery	473	470	+0.6%
Aggravated assault	540	536	+0.7%
Burglary	3,458	3,112	+11.0%
Larceny-theft	15,644	14,590	+7.0%
Motor vehicle theft	2,657	1,833	+45.0%
Arson	159	128	+24.0%
TOTAL *	22,897	20,678	+10.7%

* Categories total 23,056 for this year and 20,806 for last year, which constitute the FBI's "Modified Crime Index Total."