With house break-ins and auto thefts seemingly on the rise in Kailua, residents are searching for answers to the problem and hoping City Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro can offer some help.
Kaneshiro will appear at a Kailua Neighborhood Board meeting set for 7 p.m Thursday at Kailua District Park’s recreation center.
There’s a perception that a lot of the same people arrested for committing the crimes in Kailua are simply winding up back on the streets to do their deeds again, said Kailua Neighborhood Board Vice Chairman Larry Bartley, himself the victim of an auto theft a few months ago.
"Myself and a lot of people are disturbed about this," he said. "We’re concerned they’re running a catch-and-release program rather than a criminal justice system."
Residents have become increasingly alarmed as hundreds of crimes, from burglaries to vehicle break-ins and vandalism, have plagued Kailua in the last year or so. The issue has taken center stage at neighborhood board meetings. Bartley said he has heard property crimes in Kailua have doubled this year over last.
But police Capt. Dagan Tsuchida said that’s not accurate. In fact, he said, there’s no significant increase in property crime in Kailua.
Tsuchida said people have a skewed perception of crime in Kailua, in part because of a Facebook page where residents tell their crime stories and then assume almost everyone in town is a victim. There have been several television and newspaper reports about waves of crime in specific neighborhoods as well.
"Property crime can fluctuate greatly," he said. "Is crime up from 10 or 15 years ago? Probably."
Tsuchida said HPD has improved its patrolling in Kailua and other areas this year under the departments’s new intelligence-led policing program, in which analysts look at crime trends and identify areas where the department can concentrate its officers.
Tsuchida said there’s a problem with repeat offenders, and that’s something the community should discuss with Kaneshiro. But, he added, the prosecutor often has his hands tied by regulations and laws as well as by such issues as limited prison space.
Meanwhile, at the Hono Kailua Facebook page, Kailua Neighborhood Board member Mike Gallagher urged residents to attend tomorrow’s meeting.
"As concerned citizens I call upon you to show up in strength and really give Keith Kaneshiro a piece of your minds! You can do something about this and now is the time," he wrote.
Bob Hayes says he’ll be there. He said he’s been the victim of five crimes this year at his house near Kailua Beach, including auto break-ins and a license plate theft.
"I’m on the front lines," said Hayes, a 30-year Kailua resident and businessman who launched a neighborhood watch program and has been going to all the meetings he can on the subject. "Everyone in Kailua probably knows someone else who has been robbed."
At least three neighborhood board members have been victims this year, he pointed out, as well as state Rep. Cynthia Thielen, who confronted a stranger in her house, and University of Hawaii men’s basketball coach Gib Arnold , whose house was burglarized and ransacked.
Part of the problem, Hayes said, is that Kailua and its beach parks have become increasingly popular for tourists with lots of tourist traffic and illegal vacation rentals. The crowds literally have been giving criminals places to hide.
"We’ve become accustomed to living with strangers," he said.
Regarding the issue of repeat offenders, Hayes said, "A friend of mine said it’s common knowledge — and I believe it — that prisoners talk and have worked out a strategy: Do only Class C felonies (including theft and property crimes), don’t hurt anybody and you don’t have to do any time," he said. "They’ve figured out a sustainable lifestyle."
