Oahu’s major
crimes soaringA jump in "serious offenses"
fuels the worst rate since 1996
Major crimes on Oahu spiked up 18 percent last year from 2001 as a big jump in burglaries and car thefts contributed to the highest overall crime rate since 1996, a Honolulu police report details.
A draft copy of HPD's 2002 Annual Report shows that there were 57,271 "serious offenses" last year, up from 48,442 a year earlier.
The overall crime figure comprises a 6 percent increase in violent crimes, which include murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault, and a 19 percent increase in property crimes, which include burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft.
"It's the drug problem, unemployment, a whole bunch of factors," said Lt. Mitch Kiyuna. "That's why we need people to report things as soon as they see something suspicious ... because that car cruising back and forth might be checking the place out for a break-in.
"We need everyone to be aware. We can't do this alone."
Auto theft posted the most dramatic rise last year with 8,488 crimes reported, a nearly 52 percent increase from the 5,597 thefts in 2001, the statistics show.
"We're not surprised," said Auto Theft Detail Lt. Hank Nobriga.
Ironically, the auto theft numbers come during a week when officers made what HPD officials said was a record-breaking 10 auto theft arrests in one day. Police said the arrests Wednesday were in separate cases.
"It's more like right-place, right-time sort of thing," said Nobriga, "but it only goes to show you how many auto thefts are taking place at any given time."
Police said property crimes were widespread and increased in all eight of Oahu's police districts last year. District 1 (downtown, Makiki, Ala Moana) had the most larceny thefts at 7,599, while District 7 (Punahou Street, Hawaii Kai) had the most burglaries at 1,501 and District 3 (Salt Lake, Pearl City, Waipahu) recorded the most auto thefts at 1,841.
Police expressed frustration that they are seeing many of the same people committing crimes.
"The prisons are overcrowded, and we know no matter how many people we put in there, they're going to be let out into the streets," said burglary Detective Clint Sukekane. "These are a lot of repeat offenders."
Kiyuna echoed the sentiment: "One guy we arrested for a string of burglaries we just arrested again, and this is less than a month later."
Police said they need the public's help in decreasing the property crime numbers.
"A good percentage of the home break-ins we investigated were preventable," said Sukekane. "Think about it: If you've ever locked yourself out of your house, you've had to break in. If you can find a way in, so can burglars."
Sukekane said some burglars are not even deterred by home alarms because they know exactly how much time they have to get in and get out once an alarm goes off.
"These guys head straight up to the master bedroom, and that's where people leave their jewelry or car keys or bank statements lying around," he said. "Lock those things up in a safe, and make sure you bolt that safe down, because we've had cases where they just pick the whole thing up and walk out."
Kiyuna said many thefts in District 1 include shoplifting, car break-ins and people walking away with others' belongings when the victims are not paying attention.
"Especially food court areas," said Kiyuna. "A lot of people will leave their wallet or the cell phone, or they've bought something and they put it on the ground and then it's gone.
"And people have to stop leaving valuables in cars. ... Some of these guys are waiting to see who leaves a laptop or something in their trunk, and as soon as you're gone, they're going right over there to break in and pick it up."
Nobriga, of the Auto Theft Detail, said another problem that police face is when a stolen car is so badly damaged that officers cannot identify the owner. To combat the problem, he said, HPD is considering offering the public a free service of acid-etching a car's vehicle identification number onto the windshield "because the glass is a hard thing to change and expensive to replace," he said. "It's more for a secondary precaution because we end up destroying cars that can't be identified anymore."
In addition to the sharp spike in auto thefts, the 2002 statistics show a 13 percent increase in larceny-theft from a year earlier and a 22 percent increase in burglaries.
The 6 percent increase in violent crime, meanwhile, included a nearly 4 percent increase in rapes, to 304 in 2002 from 293 a year earlier, and a 7 percent increase in robberies, to 1,072 from 999 in 2001.
There were 18 murders on Oahu in 2002, a 1 percent drop from the 20 murders in 2001, the HPD reports shows.
The last time overall crime on Oahu was higher was 1996, when 60,059 crimes were reported by police.
Honolulu Police Department
