Following a recent burglary at her Kailua home in which thieves took about $10,000 worth of her family’s belongings, Jennifer Mehau turned to social media to rally the community to combat crime.
"It’s not the Hawaii we grew up in," Mehau said, adding that many people told her they also had been victims of break-ins. "If you talk to five people in Kailua, four people have a story to tell you."
Mehau created the Facebook page "Hono Kailua" — "hono" means to repair, recover or reclaim — soon after her home was burglarized on June 15.
Mehau and her husband, Cory, discovered the crime after returning to their Olomana home at 6:30 p.m. to find their front door wide open. "I looked up at the top of my TV and the Wii (game console) was gone," she said. "I knew instantly I’d been robbed."
The thieves apparently broke in through jalousie windows at the rear of the home. Jewelry valued at more than $5,000, a credit card and a relative’s gun stored in a toolbox were among the stolen items.
In their 8-year-old daughter’s room, a jug that contained about $200 also was taken. Mehau said her daughter had been saving to buy a puppy since their dog died four years ago.
The burglary prompted the Mehaus, both of whom grew up in Kailua, to start the Facebook page and encourage other communities to do the same. "We’re working on reclaiming the spirit of Kailua that we grew up in," Cory Mehau said. "We want all communities to become empowered."
According to the Honolulu Police Department’s crime-mapping website, crimes from burglaries and larceny to vehicle break-ins and vandalism have increased in Kailua in recent months.
Within a two-mile radius of Kailua Town Center, for example, crime jumped to 124 reported incidents in March compared with 86 in February. Crime figures continued to increase in the area in April, when police reported 138 incidents. Figures have remained steady since then.
University of Hawaii men’s basketball coach Gib Arnold is among the Kailua victims; his home was burglarized on Father’s Day. Arnold and his family returned home from church to find their home ransacked. Computers, iPads, sports memorabilia and an unspecified amount of cash were among the items stolen.
As of Friday afternoon, Hono Kailua had received almost 700 likes on Facebook. Many who visited the page shared their own experience — or that of a relative or friend — of being recently burglarized.
Jennifer Mehau encourages people to meet a new neighbor every day. "I think people are going to take a vested interest when they know a neighbor," she said. "When they (criminals) know it’s a strong, tight-knit community, they’re not going to bother."
Larry Bartley, vice chairman of the Kailua Neighborhood Board, said increased tourism, a larger military population and illegal vacation rentals have resulted in a dramatic increase in people in the community.
"There’s a huge influx of people here compared to five years ago," he said, adding that Kailua’s popularity surged when it was publicized that President Barack Obama spends the holidays with his family at a beachside vacation rental. Airlines, travel guides and commercial landowners are also promoting Kailua as a tourist destination.
The flow of visitors has also increased traffic. Bartley, who has lived in Kailua for almost three decades, recalled that in years past only a couple of cars would be parked along the streets when he walked to Kailua Beach from his home. Now, he said, the streets are lined with vehicles.
Bartley said thieves often target vacation rentals and rental cars. "There have been a number of rental car break-ins in Lanikai in the last two to three months," he said.
