Keep crimes from trending in Waikiki

With police suspecting teen assailants in three recent violent crimes in Waikiki, community focus is pivoting to the plight and perceived threats tied to street kids.

As of yet, it’s unclear whether youths involved in the high-profile incidents are homeless. And it’s unfair to categorically cast hundreds of homeless teens that every day blend into the tourist hub’s beachwear crowd as a menace. But where there’s homelessness, troubles are always present.

Aside from the spotlighted cases, police say they are not seeing an increase in “overall juvenile-related crimes.” But when adult-related crime is factored in, the crime figures are rising in Waikiki. A comparison of 2016 and 2017 tallies for crimes against visitors in the district shows increases in cases involving attempted murder, assault, robbery, auto theft and Internet fraud.

It’s encouraging to see the Honolulu Police Department responding by stepping up patrol of the busy two-mile stretch. Such a move holds the potential to help maintain Waikiki’s reputation as a safe place for street-side foot-traffic while also providing more assistance to kids in need.

Crime prevention strategy should include more enforcement of curfew — state law prohibits unaccompanied children 16 and younger from being on the streets between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. unless they are coming from work or a school function.

A Tuesday story by Honolulu Star-Advertiser reporter Allison Schaefers noted that HPD statistics show that last year police arrested only 51 kids for curfew violations; that’s 41 percent less than they did in 2015. Likewise, police arrested 1,417 kids islandwide on a runaway charge in 2016, which was 2 percent less than 2015.

On any given day Waikiki has about 100 officers available to work on foot, in cars, on bikes and on ATVs. Starting in early November, HPD will increase the district’s staffing about 10 percent by sending a group of just-graduated officers there. Also, more bike patrols, from 7 p.m. to 4 a.m., got underway last week.

Each of the three incidents that have collectively rattled the community occurred during that patrol shift — the district’s peak crime hours.

>> A 16-year-old boy was charged Monday with second-degree murder in connection with the death of Sgt. William H. Brown, a Kaneohe-based Marine who was stabbed multiple times. Brown and his companions were attempting to fend off a purse-snatching assault, in which nine people were initially arrested, eight of them juveniles. The attack occurred at about 1 a.m. Saturday at Kalakaua and Royal Hawaiian avenues — where it’s easy to imagine feeling safe, despite the late hour, with the well-manicured intersection’s street lights shining on its upscale shops.

>> A 14-year-old boy was charged with second-degree assault in connection with an Oct. 6 attack on a Schofield Barracks soldier who was beaten with a baseball bat and stabbed repeatedly near Lewers Street and Kalakaua Avenue.

>> In the third incident, an 18-year-old man was charged last month with second-degree murder in the death of Maleko “Mac” Remlinger, a Hawaii resident. The man was also charged with one count of first-degree attempted murder, two counts of second-degree attempted murder and four firearm offenses. Remlinger was killed Sept. 16 and two others injured when the assailant allegedly used a rifle to shoot into a crowd outside Club Alley Cat.

It’s both alarming and heartbreaking that the recent focus on street kids is prompted by violence and tragedy.

Police, government and tourism industry leaders, and others must work together to stem Waikiki’s emerging crime trajectory. All involved should quickly follow through with plans in the works for HPD officers to meet with residents, business people and the military.

Nonprofits such as Youth Outreach (YO!), a Waikiki-based drop-in center for street kids, and social service agencies that work with the homeless should also help forge strategy for swiftly and effectively addressing crime — as well as efforts to get youth sleeping on the streets into safe housing and nurturing environments.