Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Thursday, April 25, 2024 81° Today's Paper


Hawaii News

Statistics on crime put Oahu at safest since ’75

Gordon Y.K. Pang

Oahu’s total crime rate in seven categories dropped in 2010 to its lowest level since Hawaii began using the federal standard 35 years ago.

The data were made available Friday by the Honolulu Police Department and the state Attorney General.

The rate reported for the City and County of Honolulu in 2010 was 3,601 crimes per 100,000 residents, according to data extrapolated by the Attorney General’s Research and Statistics Division from its upcoming statewide crime report. That’s down from the 3,962 per 100,000 recorded in 2009 and the lowest recorded since statewide data collection began in 1975, said Paul Perrone, chief of research and statistics for the Attorney General.

The total index crime rate is the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program’s standardized formula for comparing crime in U.S. states and cities.

The total index crime rate is composed of reported incidents in seven categories: four violent crimes and three property crime rates. The violent crimes are murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. The three property crimes used are burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft.

Perrone also said the 14 percent rate of index crimes cleared in 2010 was the highest recorded in at least the past decade. In 2009 HPD cleared 13.7 percent of the offenses.

“It was a banner year,” Perrone said.

HPD spokeswoman Michelle Yu said Chief Louis Kealoha Jr. and the department are pleased with the findings.

“It reflects the hard work of our law enforcement officers and civilian employees,” she said. “Credit should also go to our law enforcement partners, including the prosecutor’s office, all of the businesses, as well as the community organizations and volunteers who support HPD. This is something the community can be proud of.”

When it comes to raw numbers, the number of total index crimes reported in 2010 was 34,216, down 5 percent from the 35,912 of all index crimes recored in 2009. The 2010 figure was the lowest since at least 2001, Perrone said.

Oahu also saw better 2010 numbers in several crime indicators, including key violent crime and property crime categories.

The number of violent crimes actually went up in Spokeswoman, Honolulu Police Department, about the drop in the crime rate 2010 to 2,548 reported, from 2,537 in 2009, an increase of less than 1 percent. But because Oahu’s population increased in 2010, the violent index crime rate dropped 4.2 percent to 268 per 100,000 residents in 2010 from 280 per 100,000 in 2009. That’s the lowest rate since 2001.

The number of property crimes declined, as did the property crime rate. Property crimes declined to 31,668 in 2010 from 33,375 in 2009, a drop of about 5 percent and the lowest in a decade. The property crime rate went to 3,333 per 100,000 from 3,682 in 2009. The 2010 figure is the lowest on record, Perrone said.

Other 2010 crime statistics:

>>The number of rapes reported dropped to 218 in 2010, compared with 243 in 2009. The 10-year low was 203 recorded in 2008.

>> Motor vehicle thefts reported increased to 3,901 in 2010 from 3,729 in 2009. The most auto thefts since 2001 was the 8,488 recorded in 2002.

>> The number of burglaries reported in 2010 was 5,760, down from the 5,999 reported in 2009. Since 2001 the fewest burglaries recorded was the 5,482 recorded in 2006.

>> Robberies reported increased to 891 in 2010, up slightly from the 869 recorded in 2009. The high since 2001 was the 1,072 reported in 2002.

Leave a Reply