Posted on: Thursday, June 13, 2002
City tops in arrestees on 'ice'
By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer
Honolulu had the highest percentage of crystal meth-amphetamine use among men arrested on the island compared with 30 other U.S. cities last year, and police say people hooked on "ice" have contributed to Hawai'i's high rate of thefts.
Nearly 40 percent of the men who were arrested by the Honolulu Police Department from January 2001 to September 2001 tested positive for crystal methamphetamine, according to the national Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring program, which is overseen by the U.S. Department of Justice.
"It obviously shows we have an extremely serious problem in Honolulu," said Andrew Ovenden, the Hono-lulu program site coordinator and one of the researchers. "It means we have a serious public health issue that needs to be addressed."
Maj. Darryl Perry of the Honolulu Police Department's Narcotics/Vice Division said the results of the report did not surprise him. Perry said there seems to be a correlation between ice use and property crime, and that ice users have been involved in burglaries, shopliftings, robberies, purse snatchings and car thefts.
"This drug is so addictive that people need money to support their habit," Perry said. "Whatever means is out there to get the money to buy the drug, they're going to do it."
Last year, Hawai'i was ranked with the highest rate of thefts in the nation based on reports of those crimes in 2000, according to statistics gathered by the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program.
Statistics for 2001 were not available and a crime expert declined to say if Hawai'i's theft rate last year continued to be the highest in the nation.
In Hawai'i, there were 3,570 larceny-theft crimes (thefts excluding motor vehicle thefts) per 100,000 people in 2000. The overall property crime rate was 4,955 per 100,000.
Typically, Hawai'i ranks high in thefts and other property crimes and low in violent crimes, said Paul Perrone, chief of research and statistics at the Crime Prevention and Justice Assistance Division of the attorney general's office.
"One factor is considering the state's population distribution, we're essentially a large city," he said. "And crime rates are based on resident population as a denominator. We have a high de facto population because of all the tourists here, but we don't get to count those people as residents."
In addition, Perrone cited a common theory that Hawai'i statistics include a high rate of thefts because people here feel more willing to report relatively petty crimes.
"Because there is less of the violent street crime, our police are able to respond and are willing to do so," he said.
Perrone said serious crime increased last year, but he could not say by how much. He said the increase would be less than what Hawai'i experienced in 2000 when the serious crime rate increased 7.5 percent.
The report ranked Honolulu's arrestees the highest for crystal methamphetamine use — 38.1 percent — followed by Sacramento, Calif., at 28.8 percent; San Jose, Calif., at 27.7 percent; and San Diego at 27.3 percent.
Hawai'i was one of the first places in the country where the drug made its appearance. The drug began arriving in Hawai'i in large amounts in 1985. It was such a new drug that police weren't sure what it was. The pure ice crystals came primarily from the Philippines, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan. Users quickly became hooked and bypassed cocaine and marijuana. Hawai'i sees more of the drug's crystal form than the powder form.
Ovenden said researchers randomly selected and interviewed 422 people who were arrested in Honolulu on various crimes. The people volunteered to be interviewed and 89.2 percent of those people completed urine tests that were used for the report, he said.
Since January 2000, crystal methamphetamine use among Honolulu arrestees has increased slightly, and in the first quarter of this year, the statistics "spiked significantly" more than 40 percent, Ovenden said.
Ovenden said Hawai'i has a high crystal methamphetamine use because the drug is fairly easily to smuggle and transport. He also said demand is high in Hawai'i.
Perry said police have arrested hundreds of people in the past few years on suspicion of possession or trafficking in crystal methamphetamine. In 2000, police initiated 699 cases and arrested 480 people; last year police initiated 630 cases and arrested 514 people. From January through May of this year, police initiated 220 cases and arrested 164 people.
Last year, police confiscated 76 pounds of crystal methamphetamine that had a street value of $7 million, Perry said. This year they have confiscated 22 pounds worth almost $2 million, he said. The price of crystal methamphetamine in Hawai'i peaked at $10,000 per ounce in 1997 and decreased to $2,500 to $3,000 per ounce in 2000, according to U.S. Department of Justice statistics.
Perry said HPD has dedicated 75 percent of its narcotics/vice division for drug offenses which mainly deal with ice. To curb the problem, Perry said the Police Department needs to join forces with other agencies such as the prosecutor's office, court system, corrections department and the Department of Heath. He said the drug court program is helping.
"We have to look at education, treatment and rehabilitation," Perry said. "We can't just treat the people. We need some support system to back them up. We cannot just put them back into the same environment where they came from. It's a complex issue that involves everyone.
"We're doing our job, we are arresting people and confiscating drugs," Perry said. "We're out there. But you see the problem. Property crime is still up."
Advertiser staff writer Vicki Viotti contributed to this report.
