Honolulu authorities are a long way from being able to declare that the new “Safe and Sound Waikiki” program has achieved for the visitor destination what its name suggests. A recent wave of crime and a spike in homelessness have added new layers to the stain that already has tarnished its reputation, a distinct vulnerability for a state that depends so heavily on tourism.

On Tuesday Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Steve Alm, Mayor Rick Blangiardi and Police Chief Joe Logan unveiled the program, which is essentially a version of the established “Weed and Seed” programs applied to Chinatown and other areas, but now targeting the defined geographic zone encompassing Waikiki’s resort and residential areas.

There has been some success in the most recent efforts at “weeding” Chinatown through criminal arrests and “seeding” the area with programs to treat the mental-illness and substance-abuse problems of its homeless population.

But Waikiki is a particularly powerful magnet for crime, Alm said in an interview on Wednesday. And success for “Safe and Sound” will depend on a willingness of the Judiciary to add specific restrictions — essentially a ban on entering the zone while on probation — to those who break the law repeatedly.

The restrictions are one key element of “Safe and Sound” that Alm has seen used effectively when Weed and Seed was initially deployed in Chinatown in 1998. Judges assigned to the program granted the restrictions most times they were requested. And the result, he said, was gratifying: a 70% reduction in crime.

That was then. Now, when Weed and Seed was redeployed in Chinatown a year ago, “geographic restrictions” were granted 13 times and denied 183.

That reticence must be overcome: It is the primary obstacle to reversing Waikiki’s decline. Alm pointed to sections of statute that provide the legal basis for zone restrictions, both for pretrial defendants as well as probationers. It is justifiable as deterrence to issue these restrictions as conditions in districts that are under threat.

Waikiki is one of them, increasingly becoming a zone of opportunity, evidenced in thefts, assaults and alcohol- and drug-fueled troublemaking. The homeless are living there in parks and on the streets, causing part of the problem, but others arrested repeatedly are drawn to the district from elsewhere.

“You’ve got this blend of locals, tourists, military, bars, lonely stretches and places where there’s a lot of trouble,” Alm said. “What we’re asking the court is to help us help this community.”

The second key element in the program is for more treatment accommodations for those with health as their core need. Without treatment, Alm observed correctly, those with mental-health and substance-abuse problems will continue to vandalize or commit other petty crimes that the city struggles to control.

Officials have directed $250,000 in city revenue and another $90,000 from the Paul Kosasa Foundation to fund the effort broadly. But clearly, more sustained funding, such as for robust police presence to deter criminality at known hotspots, will be needed to see real results.

Further, if new treatment-bed capacity is required, state support is needed, too.

That will be a challenge, given the anticipated dip in tax revenue and fiscal constraints in the next legislative session. But it’s crucial for the next state administration to make a substantial commitment.

It is encouraging to see some pledges being made for cooperative efforts to clean up graffiti or other examples of vandalism in Waikiki.

But the damage goes far deeper than a coat of paint can correct. The people who live in and visit Waikiki do deserve to feel “Safe and Sound.” And those preventing that outcome need real help, or to be kept away until they can get on a better path.