Anti-crime program parties at 'A'ala Park
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Staff Writer
Weed & Seed Hawai'i, the neighborhood anti-crime program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice, threw a party in 'A'ala Park yesterday.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
More than 1,000 revelers showed up to dance, sing and help themselves to free hotdogs and entertainment provided by the Honolulu Police Department.
Sue Gossney, 80, of Waikiki, dances to band music at 'A'ala Park. The city's Weed & Seed program celebrated its third anniversary with a party.
The cause for the celebration:
Success in weeding out unsavory elements from high-crime areas.
Organizers say that according to statistics from the Honolulu Police Department, since Weed & Seed began in Kalihi-Palama/Chinatown in 1998, crime in the area has plummeted by an astonishing 60 percent. Last year in Waipahu, O'ahu's second Weed & Seed site, drug crimes nosedived by nearly 80 percent.
The Weed & Seed concept utilizes federal, state, city, private and nonprofit service providers along with community-based groups and residents to build a community once the bad guys have been weeded out.
Does driving unsavory elements from one part of town merely chase them to another? Not so, according to Maile Kanemaru, executive director of Weed & Seed Hawai'i.
"Displacement has never been a problem for us," she said. "Since we started in Kalihi-Palama/Chinatown the crime in the surrounding areas has not increased at all."
Where does the unwanted criminal element go?
"Because it's Weed & Seed we have the federal attorney involved," Kanemaru said. "We have prosecuted more than 100 drug dealers who are serving time in a federal prison on the Mainland.
"These are people who come into an area for their own business and don't belong."
Kanemaru said as undesirable criminals disappear and the neighborhood becomes safer, the area is seeded with positive influences.
If there's a downside, it's that sometimes area residents are tough to convince that the process actually works, she said. But falling crime stats don't lie, and gradually people notice.
Sometimes, even those involved are a hard sell.
"You're always skeptical when a federal program comes in and tries to do something," said HPD Sgt. John Kauwenaole, Kalihi-Palama/Chinatown Weed & Seed coordinator. "Actually, no, I didn't think it would be this successful. But, I was surprised."
Kanemaru cites the once crime-riddled 'A'ala Park as a prime example of law-abiding citizens reclaiming their neighborhood.
"It take a lot of partners," she said. "The city and county, the law enforcement providers, companies that sponsor skateboard activities. The more activities you have in a community, the more the crooks are going to stay away."
