Weed and Seed program sees 74 arrests in Chinatown area

In the two months since the city brought back Weed and Seed, a once-federal program meant to target crime in a specific area and then bolster community initiatives, at least 74 people have been arrested for mostly drug-related crimes.

Prosecuting Attorney Steven S. Alm reinstated the Weed and Seed program in the Chinatown and Kalihi-Palama area in July in an effort to revitalize that community amid increased concerns from residents and businesses about crime.

“It means based on what the residents and community says, it means ‘weeding’ out the crime. And then in a safer community, it’s ‘seeding’ it with activities that are pro-social, that help the community help businesses thrive,” he said during a Wednesday news conference about the program. “Homelessness and crime have gotten out of control.”

Of the 74 people who have been arrested through the program so far, 24 were homeless people who previously had been arrested for drug, alcohol and mental health issues, Alm said.

He added that his office is working with the state Department of Health to have them assessed at Oahu Community Correctional Center and put into one of the drug or mental health treatment programs available.

Weed and Seed was a federal program that was implemented about 20 years ago, and Alm was an integral part of the program then. Now the program is being fully funded by the city. The Honolulu City Council allocated $250,000 in the city’s budget. However, Mayor Rick Blangiardi listed an additional $750,000 for the program in draft proposal of his plans for the city’s $386 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds.

Alm emphasized that for Weed and Seed to work, it will need to be a sustained effort over years. The city will be looking at crime statistics to gauge the success of the program and asking people if they feel safer in the area.

Chu Lan Shubert-Kwock, the Chinatown Business and Community Association president, said she already has noticed a difference in the level of crime in the area.

“The keyword is it is improving. We hope we can do more,” she said.

“We need to do this because we have been neglectful for too long. And people have just suffered enough.”

Shubert-Kwock applauded the increased police presence in the area.

“If we take a walk down River Street, for the first time, it has been cleared. And this has been holding for a few weeks now,” she said.

In July, Blangiardi announced the Honolulu Police Department increased patrols in Chinatown to 24/7 coverage with four six-hour shifts that consist of one supervisor and six officers. Officers patrol in pairs and report enforcement statistics daily.

Shubert-Kwock was excited about the city’s new Crisis Outreach Response and Engagement (CORE) program because she emphasized there is a need for more social workers in addition to police to help homeless people struggling with mental health issues and drug addiction.

The city’s Office of Housing and Homelessness Director Anton Krucky secured $1.5 million for the program that would send social workers, in addition to police, to nonviolent 911 calls.

Krucky said the program has begun to hire the 15 to 16 workers who are needed to run it.

Shubert-Kwock wants to see a ban on retail liquor sales in Chinatown, which she said would help reduce crime in the area.

“We have so many mentally ill people on our streets, and a lot of them are on drugs or alcohol,” she said.

Alm said that when Weed and Seed was implemented two decades ago, there was a significant decrease in crime and the city was able to establish an after-school program.

He hopes to be able to “seed” similar beneficial initiatives based off of community needs.

“We’ve been talking to community members. There are surveys out there,” he said.

“We’ll get more in the input from that.”

When Blangiardi took office, he announced his intention to put a strong emphasis on revitalizing the Chinatown area. He was at Wednesday’s news conference in support of the Weed and Seed program, which he said will have an effect on the area’s homelessness and crime-related problems.

“We mean what we say. We’re going to do this as professionally as best as we know how,” Blangiardi said.

“We are going to make a difference. This time around, we are really going to make this happen.”