Crime in most categories, including violent ones, has dropped by double digits in Waikiki since Safe & Sound Waikiki started 18 months ago to address community concerns over mounting criminal activity and increased homelessness.
Combined outreach efforts between the Waikiki Business Improvement District and the Institute for Human Services to address homelessness have gotten at least 30 people into shelter, dispensed court-required medication to 14 mentally ill people through the assisted community treatment program, and placed four people into stabilization or respite centers. Outreach workers had to connect with more than 180 people, often many times, to get to these results.
The city is planning by year’s end to more than double team members for CORE, which stands for Community Outreach Response and Engagement. The program, which began prioritizing Waikiki in June 2022, sends emergency medical technicians and community health workers to respond to community concerns and nonviolent, homeless-related 911 calls, and conducts outreach aimed at getting unsheltered homeless people housed.
More habitual criminals also are off the street, said Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Steve Alm, who said so far the courts have placed 309 habitual offenders on geo-restrictions, which ban them from Waikiki. Alm said as of this March some 173 people were still on geo-restrictions.
Heading into year two, Katie Kaahanui, the Safe & Sound Waikiki executive coordinator, said law enforcement and community partners are pledging to:
>> Increase community partner support for outreach.
>> Solidify partnerships with Waikiki district schools.
>> Hold regular community engagement events, which include residents and visitors.
>> Foster a community that promotes safety and well-being through collaboration.
Trevor Abarzua, WBID’s president and executive director, said the multiagency crime reduction program has been continually ramping up since it started in 2022 with approximately $100,000 in seed money from city coffers and about $100,00 from the Paul Kosasa Foundation.
Abarzua said a rash of crimes when the tourist district reopened after COVID-19 first prompted the prosecutor’s office to begin working in partnership with the Honolulu Police Department, WBID and other nonprofits and community members to establish Safe & Sound Waikiki. The crime reduction strategy depends on grassroots input from residents, businesses and community groups regarding crime issues as well as what community activities and social services are needed.
Mayor Rick Blangiardi, who has supported Safe & Sound Waikiki from its start, said in a statement, “Through our collaborative efforts and community vigilance, we believe the tide is turning against disorder, proving that safety is not just a privilege but a fundamental right that we uphold for every resident and visitor. Let this program stand as evidence of our determination to keep our streets safe, and a promise not to let up for those that call Waikiki home.”
Alm, who helped launch Safe & Sound Waikiki, said “The police have been very busy. In a year and a half, there have been 3,600 arrests/citations in the area.”
HPD statistics, which are derived from crimes reported within the Waikiki area, show incidents of murder, sex assault, assault, robbery, burglary, auto theft, unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle, property damage, drug/liquor offenses, and loitering/vagrancy dropped by double digits. Other larceny dropped by single digits, while disorderly conduct cases skyrocketed from 165 to 239, a nearly 45% rise.
HPD Maj. James Slayter, who presides over Waikiki, said, “We’ve had some pretty dramatic reductions. We are seeing great strides. We are not perfect yet. We are not done. But we are certainly happy to see the results that we did.”
Safe & Sound Waikiki’s efforts have received community accolades; however, the program’s work is never done
Waikiki Neighborhood Board member Kenneth Jacob said he still wants to see law enforcement officials put more focus on Waikiki and the surrounding areas.
Jacob said he was attacked about three weeks ago at 9:45 a.m. on a Saturday as he walked to Ala Moana Center from his Waikiki condominium. Jacob said the man, who broke three of his ribs, asked him for a cigarette and then attacked him when he said, “no.”
The pedestrian bridge over the Ala Wai Canal is just outside of the Safe & Sound Waikiki boundaries, which extend from the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor along the coast to Diamond Head Road and connect with Ala Wai Boulevard. It also includes Diamond Head State Monument, the Honolulu Zoo and Kapiolani Park.
Even so Jacobs said problems at the bridge reflect poorly on Waikiki given its gateway location and proximity to the Hawai‘i Convention Center.
“Waikiki is not safe. It’s not sound,” Jacob said. “I don’t believe they are working on it at all. The man that attacked me was living in a tent on the bridge. Why is he allowed to be there?”
Waikiki Neighborhood Board Chairman Bob Finley said the attack on Jacob was part of a community discussion about crime and homelessness at the Waikiki board’s April meeting.
“I think the crime part of Safe & Sound is what we had hoped for when we started. But now it seems we’ve switched from crime to homelessness,” Finley said. “I’m hoping this program will address that in its next phase.”
Connie Mitchell, executive director for the Institute for Human Services; and Tati Young, IHS’ Waikiki outreach coordinator, said IHS has partnered with WBID since October 2023 to engage and motivate homeless people to accept services ranging from facilitating hygiene to providing access to behavioral health or medical treatment, including delivering medicine on the streets.
Ian Santee, deputy director of the Honolulu Emergency Services Department, said just last month, CORE conducted about 63 homeless outreach initiatives in Waikiki.
“It’s very challenging to engage a homeless individual and get them to come off the street,” Santee said, adding that an average interaction takes 20 minutes, and 40 minutes when medical issues are present.
Waikiki resident John Deutzman said homelessness is part of the complexity of the issues that could cause Safe & Sound Waikiki’s success to plateau. Deutzman, who tracks Waikiki crime, said ensuring that offenders, especially habitual offenders, are held accountable also is critical.
“I think there’s been this overwhelming dramatic improvement and I don’t know how much further it can go given all of the factors involved,” he said. “There’s a certain group of people that are left here that are resistant to all of the methods that have been used. Some of the people who deserve geographic restrictions aren’t getting them and then there are others that constantly violate their geographic restrictions and it’s of little consequence.”
For example, he said one man who is still walking around Waikiki has been arrested 13 times in the past six months. He said another man has been arrested 23 times since Safe & Sound’s start.
Deutzman said that’s why he supports Senate Bill 2347, the habitual violent crime law. That bill, which is headed to conference, would in its current form allow “the prosecution to charge a person who, within five years of the instant offense, had been convicted of three or more violent misdemeanors or felonies, with a Class C felony.”
“We’ve had a habitual property law on the books for 20 years, why not protect people?” Deutzman asked.
CRIME REDUCTION
Since Safe & Sound Waikiki began in September 2022, most crime has decreased significantly. The one exception is disorderly conduct, which rose significantly.
>> Assault: -12.89%
>> Sex Assault: -20.8%
>> Murder: -28.57%
>> Robbery: -27.58%
>> Burglary: -36.91%
>> Auto Theft: -29.49%
>> Property Damage: -29.5%
>> Drug/Liquor Offenses: -44.23%
>> Loitering/Vagrancy: -16.19%
>> Other Larceny: -4.79%
>> Disorderly Conduct: +44.84%
HPD Note: Statistics compare the 18 months from March 5, 2021, to Sept. 5, 2022, before Safe & Sound began to the program’s first 18 months from Sept. 6, 2022, through March 6.
