The Honolulu Police Department has been working on mitigating smash-and-grab burglaries on Oahu amid a recent uptick in reported cases and urges business owners to take measures in preventing them from happening.

Between October 2023 and January 2024, the operation — composed of teams from the Crime Reduction Units across HPD’s eight districts — has netted 98 felony arrests and 164 misdemeanor cases.

“These operations right now have been very fruitful,” said HPD Maj. Brian Lynch of District 7 during a news conference today. “They are still ongoing, and we’re constantly evaluating them for their effectiveness.”

Lynch said that in addition to responding directly to the crimes, officers are offering advice to crime victims and business owners on how they can harden their homes or storefronts to prevent burglaries such as avoid leaving valuable items out in the open or money in cash registers overnight.

Business owners can call Lynch’s office at 808-723-3369 where they will be directed to a Community Policing Team officer in their district.

“What they can do is discuss with you anything that’s unique to your situation,” Lynch said. “They can come down to your place of business and they can look over what you’ve got going on and what you don’t got going on, and give you some advice on what would help you and not help the bad guys.”