Those who track statistics know the sad reality of the holidays. Ideally a season for happiness and sharing, they are also a time for stress and crime. Experts point to the fact that more people are out and about, immersed in shopping and other distractions, as one factor that creates the opportunity for property crime.

But this year there seems to be an escalation, particularly in the level of violence. Police Chief Susan Ballard, who found herself addressing the media twice within 24 hours, noted the startling pairing of incidents this week in which a suspect was shot and killed by police.

It’s natural, and right, that the community recoil at this, and then accept the inescapable truth: Honolulu suffers from substance abuse, poverty and desperation as does any large U.S. city, and from the crime that accompanies those ills.

And it’s right that these problems be addressed. Even granting that officers of the Honolulu Police Department face split-second decisions in dangerous situations, this series of events has to give HPD pause. Revisiting police training and response protocols should be part of the administrative review of these two cases, especially.

The shooting early Tuesday morning deserves special attention. The suspect, a 27-year-old man, was initially pursued for a traffic violation while operating a moped in Campbell Industrial Park, and was armed with a knife. Unresponsive to the officer repeatedly shouting orders to get on the ground and to put down the knife, he was undeterred by being hit twice with a Taser.

Ballard said the suspect lunged at the officer. The body camera worn by the the officer captured much of the incident, but that aspect wasn’t visible.

The chief emphasized that the tension of such moments makes it difficult to gauge what alternatives were possible, and that “our officers do not have the benefit of instant replay.” However, it’s imperative that police examine whether this end — a traffic stop on a dark road culminating in a death — might have been avoided.

The previous incident on Monday, a midday car chase ending with an armed suspect at the Nissan auto dealership at 2295 N. King St., was fraught with peril.

The driver, 34, exited the vehicle and fired at the plainclothes officers in pursuit. He then ran toward the dealership, where customers and staff took cover and where the officers shot him dead just outside.

That is a frightening episode, and it feels as though Honolulu is seeing more of this. Last year was the real spike, Ballard said, with 12 police shootings, six of them fatal. This year’s count is nine, five fatal.

And that comes in the wake of other violence; a 71-year-old woman fatally shot outside her home in Makiki; and purse snatchings, including an especially brutal one, in which the victim was struck by the thief’s truck.

Again, all of this should be fresh in the minds of City Council members and the administration considering how to keep spending within the limits of Honolulu tax revenues. Strengthening the capacity of HPD should be Priority A.

It also is good to hear U.S. Attorney Kenji Price — who last fall announced indictments against gaming operations that frequently foster violent crime — restate his pledge to devote federal crime-fighting resources to the cause.

Finally, safety surveillance duty also falls increasingly on the public. It was an observant witness who spotted two suspects in ski masks in Pearl City just before Monday’s midday car chase. Unnoticed, they could have embarked on a robbery or other crime with an even more violent result.

Everyone, then, should be on alert, even more so during the holidays. That’s the sad reality in Honolulu now.