The numbers don’t lie, but they don’t tell the whole story, either. Crime declined last year, compared with 2022 figures from the Honolulu Police Department.

So, why is the community upset about isolated, standout cases such as the islandwide manhunt of the armed fugitive on New Year’s Day, or the teacher randomly hit by hurled acid, or a foster child beaten and starved to death?

It’s because those cases are so horrible.

Some stories are sensationalized, says the police chief. But dispiriting crimes like these signal real social ills, not undue media attention.