Burglaries, car break-ins and stolen vehicles all fell in November in Hawaii island’s Puna district after invading lava prompted Mayor Billy Kenoi to declare a state of emergency that includes increased penalties for some crimes committed there.

Opinions differ on what’s responsible for the declines. But police statistics show that burglaries in Puna plummeted by more than half in November — from 43 in 2013 to 20 this November.

Car break-ins, known as unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle, dropped from 11 in November 2013 to just three this November. And car thefts went from 14 in November 2013 to four this November.

On Sept. 4, Kenoi proclaimed a state of emergency for the lower Puna district under Act 111 of the 2014 state Legislature. The declaration means that penalties increase for a variety of crimes.

A burglary, for example, increases from a Class B felony to a Class A felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison with no possibility of parole. A petty misdemeanor criminal property damage conviction goes from 30 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000 to a Class B felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $25,000.

There haven’t been dramatic decreases in all crimes in Puna since the enhanced penalties went into effect.

The number of thefts, for instance, remained stagnant. There were 70 in November 2013, compared with 69 last month.

Puna district police Capt. Samuel Jelsma maintains that a variety of factors are responsible for the drop in burglaries and vehicle-related crimes.

"It’s a combination of several things: The increased presence of National Guard patrols and the declaration being in effect and the word getting out to the public and the criminal element," Jelsma said.

While people on social media reported "crime was running rampant in Puna with uncontrolled looting, we found the exact opposite," Jelsma said. "You can’t always believe what you see on social media."

In one of the few cases related directly to the lava flow, Hawaii County police arrested Ruth Crawford, 65, of Aina­loa and Stephen Koch, 59, of Nana­wale on Oct. 30 on suspicion of trespassing after an officer saw them taking pictures within 5 feet of the flow. They allegedly possessed two golf clubs, each with a glob of hardened lava on the end.

Earlier in the day, Crawford and Koch had shown reporters cooling lava attached to golf clubs and an egg beater.

Then, on Dec. 2, undercover officers with the state Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement arrested two tour guides who allegedly led a group into closed state forest lands to offer a close-up view of the lava.

Tour guides Matthew Hoeflinger, a 50-year-old Hawaii County firefighter from Keaau, and Christa Nicholas, 23, of Mountain View, were charged with misdemeanor offenses of reckless endangering in the second degree, conducting illegal commercial activities within a forest reserve and entering a closed area within a natural area reserve. They also were charged with the petty misdemeanor crimes of trespassing in the second degree and entering a closed area in a forest reserve.

Orion Enocencio, manager of the ‘Ahiu Hawaii tour company, where Hoeflinger and Nicholas work, said his company continues to take customers into the Wao Kele o Puna Forest and Kahau­alea Natural Area reserves despite the state ban — and despite the possibility of enhanced penalties that ‘Ahiu Hawaii’s two independent contractors could face in Circuit Court in February.

"We’re going to keep doing the tours," Enocencio said. "The county and the state are utilizing Act 111 to bully people and that’s what it is. We’re not criminals. All we’re doing is sharing our cultural practices that were passed down from our kupunas and our tutus and sharing it with people who want to learn our culture."

‘Ahiu Hawaii also offers taxidermy and hunting and fishing guide services on Hawaii island.

But the guided eight- to 10-hour walking tours that allow customers who pay $175 each to get within inches of 2,100-degree lava have become "our primary income," Enocencio said.

"The demand is huge," he said. "Our phone is blowing up every day up until 11 o’clock at night. It is a big thing."

Enocencio also contends that enhanced penalties deserve little credit for the decrease in November’s crime statistics.

Instead, he argues that would-be criminals are taking care of their own families after close brushes with hurricanes and the continuing threat of lava from Kilauea Volcano.

"The only reason why crime probably dropped is because families are coming together and are worried about each other," Enocencio said. "Instead of being criminals, they’re now supporting each other."

Bobbye St. Ambrogio, a Puna neighborhood watch community educator and the Puna Watch liaison to Puna Councilman Greggor Ilagan, said the enhanced penalties imposed since Kenoi’s declaration "are definitely a deterrent."

She added, "Making a minimal crime a major crime and sending people off to jail for long periods is a very relevant event. HPD also has beefed up their patrols, and their presence is more evident and they are very busily going after the bad guys and making quite a dent. Also, my neighborhood watch people are out there observing and reporting and being the eyes of the HPD and making a big difference.

"People who have the wrong intentions need to know that the county and the community will be very proactive and they will not tolerate any more of this nonsense," she said. "You can be sure that every person who is a criminal or is thinking about getting involved in criminal activities will know that there are enhanced penalties. The coconut wireless is very clear on that."

State Sen. Russell Ruderman (D, Puna), who owns the Island Naturals food store in the heart of Pahoa, likes the idea of enhanced penalties during an emergency. But he says they don’t account for the drop in November’s crime statistics.

"Our community has pulled together more tightly since the hurricanes," Ruderman said, referring to hurricanes Iselle and Julio in August. "There’s more awareness of watching out for each other and watching out for everyone else’s homes. I don’t think the average petty criminal reads the paper or realizes that penalties are enhanced. But if evacuations become much more large scale, you’re going to have more neighborhoods with empty houses and we want to get the word out that you’re going to get into big trouble if you break into one of those houses."

Meda Chesney-Lind, a University of Hawaii at Manoa professor and former vice president of the American Society of Criminology, contends crime would have dropped in Puna anyway without enhanced penalties because of the presence of more than 80 National Guard soldiers.

Another factor: greater awareness by Puna residents of strangers drawn to their neighborhoods by the lava, she says.

And Chesney-Lind warned of the dangers of using enhanced penalties to try to suppress crimes over the long run.

"We’ve spent decades ratcheting up penalties mostly around drug crimes and all it does is fill your jails for relatively minor offenses," she said. "That’s why we’re the largest incarcerator of our own citizens. It’s been shown that drug treatment is cheaper than imprisonment, but we’re still sending too many people to jail and prison for crimes where probation should be fine."

In a statement, Kenoi did not address the issue of whether enhanced penalties deserve credit for November’s drop in crime.

Instead, Kenoi gave credit to residents.

"We are very thankful that our community has come together and that everybody is taking care of each other and looking out for each other," Kenoi said. "The community deserves the credit for keeping Puna a safe place to call home."