Editorial: More vigilance for visitor safety

A pair of stabbing incidents on the same day a week ago in Waikiki shocked residents and community leaders, who may have been lulled by the relative quiet while most of the visitor industry had been all but shut down for months.

Hawaii has enjoyed a reputation as a safe place to visit due to relatively low levels of COVID-19 infections, due to last fall’s Safe Travels program launch that enabled pre-flight testing in lieu of quarantine.

But protection from the virus is clearly only one of the safety considerations a tourist will have. And that’s why the pressure is on to confront the problem head-on — and to signal that determination to potential visitors.

Another will be security from crime and, although Honolulu is known for its comparatively low crime rate, the advent of larger tourism crowds creates the environment for crimes of opportunity. Property crimes are the most prevalent risk, given the potential for theft among larger crowds of visitors too distracted to be watchful.

But violent crimes, such as the knife assaults on June 2, pose danger to all, of course — but also could do real damage to the economic recovery. Someone thinking about spending their vacation money on a Hawaii trip might well give it a second thought.

Mostly the police-blotter stories are circulating locally, but the killing of California visitor Elian De La Cerda, 19, is getting national attention, too. De La Cerda was stabbed at about 12:40 a.m. June 1 during a fight at the intersection of Kalakaua and Ohua avenues. A second knife attack that was not fatal happened nearby, a half-hour later.

Tourism officials are rightly concerned that these crimes occurred days before Gov. David Ige announced the anticipation of loosened travel restrictions once vaccination rates hit specific benchmarks.

They see this as a step forward in the economic recovery, and don’t want the industry then to drop two steps back.

Of course, Honolulu Police Department already was anticipating the risk of a crime surge. In March, Waikiki was noting a dramatic plunge in most crimes during 2020, the peak of the pandemic. Thefts, robberies and sex assaults were down by more than half and other assaults declined by more than 40%.

Susan Ballard, then the police chief, said officers went on patrol, hoping to head off problems with the lingering homelessness problem and the expectation that spring-break tourism could fuel more crime.

It did. HPD statistics show major crimes within a mile of the Waikiki 96815 ZIP code up nearly 27% since January.

And that means HPD’s Rade Vanic, the interim chief who currently succeeds Ballard, will need to grapple with this issue now. Honolulu is not the only destination city to experience a spike in crime as tourism reopens, but not all of them rely on visitors as their primary economic driver as Hawaii does.

Tourism advocates are calling for a cooperative public-private effort, which is a rational response: more visible police presence and limiting early-morning alcohol service around the resorts. Further, the “weed and seed” strategy to pair enforcement with support for social programs has worked in other communities, and could work in Waikiki as well.

City and state officials can do more to warn visitors about the need for security, too, with clearer posted signs about leaving no valuables in the car at parks and hiking trails.

“We have big-city problems,” Vanic acknowledged in a Friday media briefing.

No doubt. And this is one big city that can’t afford to lose its small-city appeal. Everyone, the visitors as well as those who call Hawaii home, want to maintain its safety, above all.