After a frightening 12 months in 2000 when the crime rate spiked and generally safe Kaua’i suffered through six murders, crimes of violence seem to be going down again. Serious crime for the first half of 2001 is down almost
After a frightening 12 months in 2000 when the crime rate spiked and generally safe Kaua’i suffered through six murders, crimes of violence seem to be going down again.
Serious crime for the first half of 2001 is down almost 20 percent, said Kaua’i County Police chief George Freitas.
“Last year was an anomaly. People were walking around stunned, specifically because of the violent crimes,” Freitas said.
But all the news so far this year is good, starting at the top of the crime pole: Murder.
There has been one murder/non-negligent manslaughter charge filed on Kaua’i so far this year. There were three at this time last year.
Eleven forcible rapes have been recorded in the first six months of this year, compared to 19 at this point a year ago.
The seven armed robberies so far are less than the eight at this time last year. One of the robberies this year was performed with a knife, one with another non-firearm weapon, and five were strongarm affairs.
And there were 204 burglaries, down from 274 during the first six months of 2000. But that still averages out to more than one burglary on Kaua’i per day, and police advise residents to secure their home when away.
The only rise in major crime on the island through the first half of 2001 is in the category of motor vehicle theft. Thirty-five vehicles were stolen this year, one more than last year’s total at the same time (July 1).
Twenty of the stolen vehicles this year were cars, six were trucks and the remaining nine were “other” vehicles, such as SUVs.
Larceny-theft, always the most prevalent crime among the top seven crime categories in Hawai’i (law enforcement authorities call them Part-One offenses), dropped from 881 to 737.
Total Part One crime was down 250 actual offenses in the first six months of 2001, dropping from 1,272 to 1,022, a 19.7 percent decrease.
Nationally, the trend isn’t quite as good as on Kaua’i.
The FBI, in preliminary crime numbers for 2000, said the “Crime Index, which is composed of murder, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft, was relatively unchanged from 1999 figures.”
In the violent crime category, murder showed a decline of 1.1 decrease, according to an FBI report from Washington, D.C.
Honolulu, the only Hawai’i jurisdiction represented in the national survey, showed a decrease in murder (from 37 to 20) but a slight rise in forcible rape (from 235 to 240). Robberies rose from 907 to 984, an average of three a day.
Staff writer Dennis Wilken can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) and mailto:dwilken@pulitzer.net
