U.S. Attorney vows to ramp up efforts amid wave of violent crime

United States Attorney for the District of Hawaii Kenji Price said Tuesday that his office will redouble efforts in the face of what appears to be a violent crime wave in Hawaii in recent weeks.

“Apparently some folks are going around town hiding behind masks and endangering our communities. It also seems that criminals are increasingly choosing a firearm as a weapon of choice for getting what they want,” Price said at a Honolulu news conference.

There have been a handful of violent crimes on Oahu in the last few weeks. On Monday there were reports of men wearing ski masks in Pearl City, an incident that led to a police chase and a man being shot and killed by officers in Kalihi.

Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard on Tuesday released statistics that indicate while property crimes are down this year over last, violent crime is up, including robberies and aggravated assaults.

“I’m deeply disturbed by this recent trend,” Price said.

Price said he plans to use “every tool I have” to identify, investigate and prosecute violent criminals while working closely with state and local law enforcement.

He said he plans to focus on three priority areas: prosecuting the most dangerous offenders, criminal groups or organizations and violence-related conduct and operations, including illegal game rooms that are often linked to violent crime.

“Many of these folks have prior felony convictions but nevertheless choose to continue their criminal conduct,” Price said. “If you fall into this category, consider yourself the target of a federal investigation.”

Price said a number of tools are at his disposal to help him lock up criminals longer, including prosecuting under federal statutes for crimes involving ammunition, carjacking, bank robbery and any robbery that interferes with interstate commerce.

“We’re really looking at using a broad array of tools and trying to bring the most impactful prosecutions,” he said.