Question: Recently a burglar entered my elderly mother’s home and stole her wallet from her bedroom as she slept. My mother woke just as the thief was leaving and sadly was unable to think clearly enough to press her LifeStation alert pendant. The phone rang within a minute or so, and a female claiming to be an HPD dispatcher said she received a call from neighbors indicating my mother might need help and to hold the line. A male then took over the call, claiming to be an HPD officer and saying that police had been dispatched and not to worry.
After 15 minutes and no police, my mother finally pressed her alert pendant. Could you please publish this delaying tactic that allowed a pair of criminals time to get safely away from the area? Other elderly victims might also be fooled by this.
Answer: We’re sorry to hear about your mom’s experience. You supplied the police report number and other information so that we could follow up with the Honolulu Police Department to ask whether impersonating police officers is a tactic criminals typically use to disrupt the notification of genuine law enforcement officers. Fortunately, it doesn’t appear to be.
“We have not heard of this tactic before. It’s not common,” said Michelle Yu, an HPD spokeswoman.
Yu confirmed that there is an active first-degree burglary investigation in this crime but otherwise declined to discuss your mom’s case. However, she did offer general information for all readers:
>> HPD dispatchers or officers will never call and ask for personal information.
>> Anyone who receives a suspicious telephone call from someone claiming to be from HPD should call 911.
According to additional information provided by a caregiver for your mom, who lives in Windward Oahu, the trick phone call appeared on the caller ID as “unknown” or “unavailable.” As you explained, once your mom realized that she had been doubly victimized, she pressed her safety pendant, alerting the private company that provides the service. Police were subsequently notified. Credit cards were among the items stolen.
Q: Is there a time limit for roadside memorials? The one near the law school has been there for several months now, to honor the deceased and to bring awareness to responsible driving. In reality, though, this memorial has perhaps been a distraction. Driving by, I find that pedestrians standing there waiting to cross are difficult to see because of the floral memorial. More than once, drivers (including myself) failed to stop simply because we could not see them! It’s time to remove this before another tragedy occurs.
A: Yes, there is a time limit (30 days), and based on your description the tributes placed at the site of a fatal moped crash that occurred Oct. 25 also violate rules meant to ensure that roadside memorials don’t impair traffic safety.
The city and state transportation departments have similar rules regarding roadside memorials, which apply depending on which entity has jurisdiction over the roadway in question. In either case the people who place flowers and other items are supposed to clean them up; the work falls to government crews (at taxpayer expense) when the loved ones fail to do so.
A university spokesman said that this location — on Dole Street near the University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law — is under city jurisdiction. Call, email or message the city’s Department of Customer Services at 768-4381, complaints@honolulu.gov or 808ne.ws/concern808, respectively, to report it.
Kokua Line covered this subject a few months ago, and afterward heard from many readers who lamented that what should be temporary tributes are left to linger so long that they become eyesores and traffic hazards. You can read the specifics of the city and state rules in the previous column, at 808ne.ws/2fwY8L7.
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
