Residents add patrols for burglars in Kona
Associated Press
KAILUA-KONA » A recent rash of burglaries has struck residents on the Kona Coast of the Big Island, forcing residents to organize more neighborhood watches.
Police in West Hawaii reported 30 burglary cases in October and November, and the frequency of burglaries has continued into December.
Through the year, burglars have targeted areas from Holualoa and Kaloko Mauka on the slopes of Hualalai above Kona north along the Kohala Coast.
Lydia Weiss, whose parents were burglarized this month, and another Kaloko neighbor who also was hit have organized patrols in an effort to identify suspicious vehicles and people.
Volunteers are even escorting people who do not belong out of the neighborhood.
"Police can't do it alone. There's just not enough of them," Weiss said. "It's not like the old days where you have police officers walking down the street twirling their batons. We have to take it upon ourselves."
The vast South Kona region, which typically only has two patrol officers on duty each shift, has 41 active neighborhood watches and community patrols out on the streets, according to South Kona neighborhood watch coordinator Brenda Ford.
"The primary thing we can do to stop (crime) is neighborhood watches," Ford said. "Police have to react to burglaries. We're trying to be proactive by being a part of neighborhood watches.
"If they want to come to South Kona, they are going to have to deal with us."
Meanwhile, police are urging residents to secure their homes, inventory valuables, get a dog, know their neighbors and pay attention to who is in their neighborhoods.
On Dec. 5 an elderly woman returned to her Kona home to find an unfamiliar truck and man in her driveway. She later discovered she had been burglarized.
Two men were arrested in connection with that burglary.
"It looks like we have a bunch of different groups out there," said police Capt. Robert Hickcox.