By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hawai‘i has fared well in violent crime statistics compared with other states over the last 25 years, but the state’s high rate of property crimes has skewed the overall picture, a state statistician noted yesterday.
The state attorney general’s office released a report this week of crime trends from 1975 to 1999 for Hawai‘i and the United States. It highlighted serious crimes: murder, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, larceny theft and arson.
Hawai‘i’s rate for violent crime has tended to be less than half the U.S. rate throughout the period, while its property crime rate has remained higher than the national rate and was 22.9 percent higher in 1999, according to the report.
Violent crime is defined as murder, forcible rape, robbery or aggravated assault. Property crime includes burglary, motor vehicle theft and larceny theft.
Especially high during the 25-year period was the number of larceny thefts, a category that can range from stealing a $50,000 ring to taking a garden hose from a neighboring yard or a camera from a tourist on the beach.
"If you have a large number of larceny thefts, essentially that’s going to be your crime rate story," said Paul Perrone, chief of research and statistics at the Crime Prevention and Justice Assistance Division of the attorney general’s office. "That’s going to wash out differences in other offenses."
Larceny theft is considered the least severe of the eight major serious offenses, Perrone said, but it’s also the category with the largest number of offenses.
Officials attributed the high rate of property crimes in Hawai‘i to factors ranging from drugs to the way offenders are prosecuted.
"Traditionally, we’re not real tough on property offenders," said Honolulu Prosecutor Peter Carlisle. Hawai‘i should monitor its property crime numbers, he said, adding that when property crime increases, it often leads to more opportunity for violent crime.
But Carlisle said he was pleased with the statistics for Hawai‘i’s violent crime rate, which has remained below that of most other states.
"Most Mainland jurisdictions would be extremely envious of our violent crime rate," Carlisle said. "Most cities would be awed by what we do."
Dean Yamashiro, chief deputy of the state public defender’s office, said the larceny thefts that are being reported are most likely crimes against tourists who are being caught off guard.
"I think, unfortunately, those are the crimes that are directed at tourists," Yamashiro said. "When you look at other property crimes, we look the same like any place else."
Local experts expect the final 2000 state statistics to end Hawai‘i’s four-year decline in crime, which fell 33 percent from 1995 to 1999.
In 1999, serious crime in Hawai‘i dropped to a record low, with all four counties recording banner or near-banner years.
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