Hawaii achieved a record-low crime rate in 2016 as three of the state’s four counties led the way in setting their own record rates.
And while the City and County of Honolulu just missed a record-low crime rate of its own, it did notch the state’s lowest rates for murder, rape, aggravated assault and burglary.
The latest crime statistics are found in the state’s annual uniform crime report released Thursday by state Attorney General Doug Chin.
“The record low crime statistics in 2016 highlight the outstanding work of law enforcement throughout the state and in all four counties,” Chin declared in a news release.
The report indicates that 45,805 violent and other select crimes were reported in Hawaii, producing a rate of 3,206 offenses per 100,000 resident population, the lowest on record since statewide data collection started in 1975.
The 2016 crime rate was 6.2 percent lower than the rate reported the year before and
27.1 percent below the rate reported a decade earlier in 2007.
Violent crimes were down
2 percent from 2015 and
12.5 percent from 2007, while property crime dropped 6.5 percent last year and 28 percent from 2007.
“It’s quite a banner year,” said Paul Perrone, chief of research and statistics in the state Attorney General’s Office. “It’s the first time we had all record lows. Usually, some county has a record high, but there were none this year. That is rare.”
That’s not to say every crime rate went down. Murders were up by 20.9 percent, going from 29 murders in 2015 to 35 last year. Rape was also up 11.9 percent. Perrone noted that the rape statistics have been inconsistent and fluctuating since the definition of a rape was broadened four years ago.
Hawaii’s record-high crime rate of 7,762 offenses per 100,000 residents was set in 1979. Another peak occurred in 1995 with 7,236 offenses. The rate hovered around 5,000 between 2000 and 2008 but has fallen in recent years.
“Crime in Hawaii today is at less than half the rate it was in the late ’70s, early ’80s and the mid-’90s,” Perrone said.
The statistics generally follow the national trend. According to the Pew Research Center, violent crime in the U.S. has fallen sharply over the past quarter-century, while property crime has declined significantly as well.
Honolulu’s record-low crime rate was set in 2012. In 2016 the city and county’s total crime rate, violent crime rate and property crime rate all decreased by about 2.5 percent over 2015, and its burglary rate fell to a record-low level.
“Reductions in crime can only be achieved through cooperative efforts with the community and our partners at the state and federal levels,” Honolulu Police Department Acting Chief Cary Okimoto said in a statement. “We are especially thankful that no officers were lost in the line of duty in 2016.”
Record-low crime rates were recorded in all the neighbor island counties, although Kauai achieved the most record lows in the categories of property crime, burglary, larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft.
Kauai Police Chief Darryl Perry attributed the reduction to factors related to community and law enforcement partnerships, education, proactive measures and “the hard work and commitment of our KPD ohana.”
“Without community cooperation, the police department cannot be effective,” Perry said in a statement. “Mayor Bernard P. Carvalho Jr.’s Crime Task Force and the Visitor Aloha Society of Kaua‘i also contributes to the efforts through their advocacy and support of the police department.”
Perry said the department’s patrol staff focused on crime trends across the island and moved to boost patrols in certain hot spots. He also credited the department’s new records management system for producing statistics to better analyze crime trends.
Ronald Becker, director of the Criminal Justice program at Chaminade University, said that while the uniform crime report is an important tool, it does have its shortcomings.
The National Crime Victimization Survey, he said, suggests only about 50 percent of crimes are reported to the police. Those who might not call the police include targets of family abuse, drug users scammed by dealers, prostitutes abused by clients or pimps, or just about anyone who would rather not have the police involved in their affairs, he said.
Beyond good police work, factors that play a significant role in crime rates are the aging of a generation and, more important, economic prosperity, Becker said.
The report is skewed, he said, by the fact that all arrests are included in the data, even though some may have been illegal or of an innocent person.
Becker said the data for Hawaii is compared with other states based on the million or so people who are permanent residents.
“In truth we have the smallest crime rate in the country when you include
4 million visitors a year — their arrests count but their population numbers do not — and the military presence throughout the island are similarly treated,” he said.
Attorney General Chin, who has been battling the Trump administration in court over immigration issues, added that the numbers also help refute “the false narrative from President Trump’s administration that crime in our country is at an all-time high.”
