Big Island police will hold a second South Kona community meeting to update area residents on actions to defuse a rash of property crimes and burglaries there.
Big Island police will hold a second South Kona community meeting to update area residents on actions to defuse a rash of property crimes and burglaries there.
In all, 16 people have been arrested in connection with an apparent crime spree during August and September, said Capt. Chad Basque of the Hawaii Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Section. Eight are incarcerated, six are out on bail and two were released pending investigation and have not been charged.
Kona Patrol Capt. Richard Sherlock said four burglary cases have been started in the Kona District, with just one of those in South Kona. Two of those stem from September incidents.
At the meeting, slated for 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Konawaena Elementary School cafeteria, police will provide with an update on the suspects’ charges, as well as where the cases stand in the judicial process, Basque said. A Hawaii County deputy prosecuting attorney will also provide information.
Police Chief Harry Kubojiri stressed the importance of community involvement, especially in the South Kona spree.
“If not for the community’s involvement,” he said, “we’d still be chasing these people around.”
The announcement of the second meeting regarding the spree was made Tuesday during a police-community meeting held at the Kealakehe Police Station in Kona. Nearly a dozen people attended two-hour meeting, which gave residents and those who work in the district a chance to meet the department’s command staff and express their concerns. The meetings are held monthly and rotate between police districts.
Concerns raised Tuesday included a lack of detail in police reports, an auto repair facility in the Kamani Trees subdivision, police civility and homelessness.
Kamani Trees resident Russ Robinson asked police to look into a questionable auto repair business that has apparently set up shop on a vacant lot within the subdivision that falls outside the subdivision’s board of directors’ authority. He claimed a local auto parts company delivering parts to the operation is speeding, illegally parking and rolling through stop signs, and tow trucks are delivering “derelict” vehicles.
The geologist also expressed concern about the environmental impacts such an operation can have without the proper permits and regulations in place. He also said pets, children and the elderly frequent the area, often crossing roads.
“We’re concerned, and I would like to request that someone in community policing come by and see what is going on,” he said, explaining that there is likely a county ordinance or state regulation dealing with auto repair facilities. “Let’s see what we can do to get this out of our community.”
Homelessness is also a constant problem islandwide, police acknowledged after Jessica Kaela, Lanihau Center property manager, detailed an array of homeless issues at the Kailua-Kona shopping center including alcohol and drug use and the use of the center’s bathrooms for bathing and hygiene. She also added that the number of homeless around the area is on the rise and they are becoming more aggressive.
“I need help, it’s just very hard, and I don’t know what to do,” she said. “I try to give aloha and treat them as human beings, but I think my aloha has run out because it’s gotten really bad.”
Sherlock said homelessness is a “huge” problem in Kona because more transients pass through, especially during the winter months. While police can remove people from one area, it doesn’t mean homelessness is reduced or solved.
“Police address the issue, but it just pushes them somewhere else,” he said, noting the department’s community policing section is working with the Kailua Village Business Improvement District to address homelessness in the downtown Alii Drive area. “But, that’s where we need the community and others to help because it is a social problem.”
Kubojiri added, “we need to work toward getting them off the streets.”
Also during the community meeting, police provided attendees with an update on the department’s work addressing concerns brought up during the last community meeting held in Kona — on Nov. 17. On the issue of speeding on Lako Street, Sherlock said officers are working with residents to establish a Community Traffic Awareness Program to conduct sign waving campaigns, and officers have cited more than 100 drivers for speeding on the street. Officers are also addressing speeding on Kaiminani Drive and Kealakaa Street, near the Kealakehe Intermediate and Elementary schools.