Coalition aims to bring crime reduction programs to Waikiki

At a public-safety coalition meeting held last week, public- and private-sector officials responded to a call to beef up crime-fighting initiatives in Waikiki, where several high-profile violent crimes have put the community on alert.

The Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association, along with its partners, put on the event Thursday, which drew tourism leaders, elected officials, city department heads, law enforcement and Waikiki businesses to the Hawai‘i Convention Center where attendees weighed multiagency solutions to the district’s most recent safety and security issues, including violent crimes and youth gangs, homelessness and sex trafficking.

Among the proposals favored by the coalition: bringing “Weed and Seed” to Waikiki. The group also wants to see an increase in law enforcement presence in the district as well as criminals facing greater accountability in the justice system. Additionally, attendees said they support programs to address homelessness, troubled youth and other social issues that can lead to crime.

The Waikiki Business Improvement District has begun an overnight patrol where pairs of ambassadors serve as an extra set of eyes and ears for police.

It’s Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Steve Alm’s call when “Weed and Seed” comes to Waikiki to “weed out” criminals and “seed” the community by investing in social and economic revitalization. Alm has not talked publicly about “Weed and Seed” plans for Waikiki, and his presentation at the meeting was held behind closed doors. Alm said he will address the matter publicly at a virtual town hall meeting slated for 6 p.m. May 26. Honolulu Council Chair Tommy Waters will host the event.

HLTA President and CEO Mufi Hannemann said attendees at Thursday’s briefing assured Alm that “Waikiki is ready to go, whenever he is ready.” Hannemann said Waters, who represents Waikiki, is proposing that some $100,000 in city funds goes to the program. Also, he said Paul Kosasa, president and CEO of ABC Stores, might assist with private grants through the Kosasa Foundation.

Hannemann said the seriousness of the concerns about crime were underscored at the meeting by Alm’s presence as well as participation by Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi and interim Honolulu Police Chief Rade Vanic. Blangiardi said crime stood out among recent concerns in the city’s annual audit.

“If there was one thing in uniformity of looking at this across our entire island — with an 85% correlation, which is amazing to get because that’s the equivalent, really, quite honestly, of a primal scream” — (it) was about safety,” he said. “Public safety and keeping families safe — that’s a top issue.”

Blangiardi said that he’s instructed his team “to do everything that they can” to tackle public safety and security concerns.

Vanic added, “My presence here, I hope, shows you that we are committed to keeping Waikiki a safe place to be. And not only physically safe, but that you perceive it as being safe. The perception is just as important as the reality.”

HPD Maj. Randy Platt, Waikiki District commander, told the group that HPD supports bringing “Weed and Seed” to Waikiki, and already has placed additional officers in the district, especially at crime hot spots.

Waikiki stakeholders have reported seeing an officer stationed at the corner of Lewers Street and Kala­kaua Avenue on recent evenings. That’s the spot where Noah Cadaram, a 24-year-old visitor from Tacoma, Wash., reported he was attacked so viciously at around midnight April 3 that he was hospitalized for two days and treated for fractures to his skull, spine, back, ribs and hands.

Joe Herter, a military veteran who lives in Waikiki, was brutally beaten by a group of young people March 27 at about 1:20 a.m., coming out of Kelley O’Neil’s Bar and Grill with his girlfriend and two other couples who also had ties to the military. Herter’s girlfriend Amanda Canada’s purse and phone were taken by force during the ordeal.

On March 19, eight days before the attack on Herter and Canada, Marqus McNeil, 20, was fatally shot nearby. A grand jury indicted Justice Kaio, 19, in connection with the McNeil case on charges of second­-degree murder and firearm offenses. Unlike the other two cases, Honolulu police say the shooting was not a random act and that McNeil and Kaio knew each other.

Platt said HPD’s main objectives in Waikiki are to increase positive police contacts, visible police presence and communication with Waikiki businesses and stakeholders. He said police want to decrease calls for service and incidents of property and violent crime. They also want to connect those in need of social services with providers, he added.

Platt said one of HPD’s most successful Waikiki initiatives is called PEACE Waikiki, which stands for Proactive Enforcement Against Criminal Elements. He said that in 2021, HPD conducted 55 PEACE operations in Waikiki, which resulted in 1,451 citations, 164 arrests and 65 people sent to shelters.

Platt said HPD has started a new program called “Stop and Talk,” through which officers engage in casual conversations with Waikiki visitors, workers and residents. “It’s a way of getting the pulse of what’s going on in Waikiki, things that we don’t normally see,” he said.

Project SAFE (Safe Access for Everyone), operated by HPD District 6’s community policing team and bicycle detail, is focused on community education and cooperation to reduce traffic-related incidents, he said.

HPD also is supporting the Crisis Outreach Response and Engagement program, which is housed within the Emergency Medical Services Department and sends a dedicated team of first responders to nonviolent homeless emergency calls. Honolulu EMS director Jim Ireland said CORE is mostly operating between Daniel K. Inouye International Airport and Kahala but that the “next big push is migrating down into Waikiki, because we see what you folks all see.”

Jennifer Nakayama, president and executive director of the Waikiki Business Improvement District, said WBID outreach ambassadors will join the city weekly this summer as CORE deploys into Waikiki.

Nakayama said that since February, WBID has been running a pilot overnight security and safety program in Waikiki. Two ambassadors team up in marked cars and go out Wednesdays through Sundays from 10:15 p.m. to 6:45 a.m., she said. “Visual deterrents can be a critical step for mitigating criminal activity,” she said.

Tina Yamaki, president of Retail Merchants of Hawaii, told other members of the coalition that criminal accountability remains a major concern, and obtained their support in seeking a veto from Gov. David Ige for House Bill 1567, which eliminates the use of monetary bail for certain offenses. “When there are less and less consequences, criminals aren’t scared, so we’ll see them over and over again,” she said.

Herter, who wasn’t among those invited to the briefing, said he’s also extremely concerned about accountability.

Honolulu police arrested Adrian Gerard Matias, 23, on April 13 for suspicion of second-degree assault in Herter’s brutal beating. Matias was in the Oahu Community Corrections Center until April 25, when a judge granted a motion from the city Department of the Prosecuting Attorney to dismiss the case without prejudice, which means charges may be refiled.

Herter was granted a temporary restraining order against Matias on April 21, and went to District Court on Wednesday to get the order extended to three years. But Matias didn’t show up because he had not been served — a task that would have been much easier when he was at OCCC. HPD spokesperson Michelle Yu said HPD has attempted to serve Matias at least four times.

CRIME IN WAIKIKI

The Honolulu Police Department estimates most Waikiki crimes are tracking below pre-pandemic levels, while arrests and citations are rising. Here are some tallies for 2022 through Tuesday.

>> Fifty-one burglaries were reported in Waikiki. If the trend holds, robberies would reach 150 for the year — the lowest level since 2018.

>> Thirty-four robberies were reported. If the trend holds, robberies would hit 100 by year’s end, which is almost at the pre-pandemic level.

>> There’s been an increase in unauthorized entries into motor vehicles, with 155 cases reported. If they continue at that level, count of cases will reach 450 by year’s end — an increase from 372 cases in 2021.

>> Assaults have been on the rise since people returned to Waikiki, with 152 cases reported. If the trend continues, there count will be 450, which is below pre-pandemic levels.

>> Honolulu police issued 22,547 citations. If that pace continues, HPD expects to hit 67,500 by year’s end, thereby tracking above 2021’s 61,928.

>> Arrests in Waikiki, which numbered 814 from Jan. 1 to Tuesday, are expected to hit 2,400 by year’s end, the most since 2018, when there were 2,638.