Isle crime increases
after record low year

Murder and rape declined
but violent crime overall went
up by almost 4 percent

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By Treena Shapiro
tshapiro@starbulletin.com

Crime rates across the state rose last year but were still at the second-lowest level since the state started collecting the data in 1975.

After a record low in 1999, the crime rate increased by 7.5 percent in 2000, with more violent and property crimes and a drop in the number of arrests, according to the state attorney general's annual report released yesterday.

The 2000 crime index showed that there were 5,199 serious crimes per 100,000 Hawaii residents.

The indexed crimes are murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft and larceny-theft of property.

The 2000 property crime rate rose 7.7 percent from 1999, while motor vehicle thefts climbed 28.5 percent, burglaries were up 10.7 percent and property theft was up 4.6 percent.

Property theft, by far the largest crime category, accounted for 43,254 of the 62,987 offenses in 2000.

"When you talk about crime rates, it's really going to be driven by property crimes," said Paul Perrone, chief of research for the Department of the Attorney General. "Hono-lulu is unique in that we have a lot of property crime and not a lot of violent crime."

Although murder and rape decreased by 21.6 percent and 4.3 percent respectively, violent crime as a whole increased by 3.8 percent when aggravated assault and robbery are factored in.

There were 2,954 violent crimes statewide, including 35 murders and 346 rapes.

Perrone noted that while crime increased over 1999, the 2000 crime rate is still low compared with the record high in 1995, from which there was a steady drop in crime until last year.

"It was remarkable to see it go from the ceiling to the basement so suddenly," he said.

Juvenile arrests hit a record low in 2000, with a total of 2,769 arrests for serious crimes. Juvenile arrests accounted for 31 percent of total arrests.

While the overall crime rate rose, arrests fell 2.7 percent -- with an 11.7 increase in arrests for violent crime and a 5.0 percent decrease in property crimes.