Day 1 violence-free, police say

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

Honolulu police reported only a few minor incidents on the first day of picketing yesterday, but problems are expected to increase Monday when some public schools reopen and the strike drags on.

Assistant Chief Stephen Watarai said 146 schools, including the University of Hawai'i campuses, were being picketed by striking teachers as of 7:30 yesterday morning. Watarai said officers were stationed at 36 schools where rush-hour traffic is normally heavy.

By midday, he said, 174 schools were being picketed, but police were stationed at only 28 schools. Watarai said there were fewer than a dozen strike-related incidents reported and none was considered serious.

He said a woman reported that her car was slapped by a picket at the entrance to the University of Hawai'i lower campus at Old Wai'alae Road as she attempted to visit her mother on Kalele Road. Watarai said the woman had waited 15 minutes to cross the picket line.

If police are not posted at a school, picket captains have been instructed to call for a break in the line when a car is approaching a driveway, according to Watarai. Drivers also must not force their way through, he said.

"Traffic rules don't change because of a strike — bottom line," Watarai said.

Although Day 1 of the strike was relatively peaceful, Watarai said he expects the mood to change as early as next week, when some schools reopen.

"Any time a strike goes on, tempers get shorter, the picketers get worn down, tempers start flaring, so it tends to cause more problems," he said. "As the schools open up, we would start posting a lot more officers than we did today."

Watarai said about 85 officers will available for strike duty Monday, but additional officers can be deployed if the need arises.