Police add presence to buses in Waikiki
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
Police officers in Waikiki have begun riding TheBus to stop pickpockets, discourage vandalism and keep passengers safe.
The program is the first such initiative in Hawai'i that police involved in it can recall.
The number of city bus riders in Waikiki increases during the summer as more tourists and residents travel to and from the state's top visitor destination, but along with more people comes more crime, police say. Waikiki is second out of the eight Honolulu police districts in overall number of thefts. Just fewer than 20,000 live in Waikiki and another 30,000 workers and 87,000 tourists use the area every day.
"We've had problems with pickpockets on city buses," said officer Leland Cadoy, coordinator for the Waikiki Community Area of Responsibility. "We found out the times when incidents are occurring and started putting officers from the bike detail on the bus."
Reports of thefts and vandalism on certain routes prompted police to launch the program, said Maj. Thomas Nitta, District 6 police commander. Police have not compiled statistics on crimes committed on buses. District 6 stretches from the Hawai'i Convention Center to the slopes of Diamond Head and from the Ala Wai Canal to Waikiki Beach.
"Criminals are looking for an opportunity," Nitta said. "Sometimes people sleep on the bus or they are busy doing something or have some kind of distraction that might open that door of opportunity."
A visible police presence definitely helps elderly passengers feel more secure about riding the bus, said Bill Hawkins of the Waikiki Community Center. "They all talk about (crime) all the time," Hawkins said. "They are deathly afraid to take the bus at night unless there are five or six of them together. A uniformed officer would give them a sense of comfort."
Hawkins said about 90 percent of the elderly residents that use the center are bus riders.
Ten officers from the bike patrol are part of the program, which was launched about a month ago. The uniformed officers put their bicycles on the bus racks before boarding, but so far haven't made any arrests. That is expected to change once plainclothes officers begin taking the routes, Nitta said.
Using uniformed and then plainclothes officers will keep the criminals guessing, Cadoy said. "We want to do something active," he said. "We want to make an arrest on the bus. The goal is to let criminals think we are on all the buses and keep them off."
Nitta said the program will likely only be used during the busy summer months.
"If our thefts and (vandalism) numbers drop, or less problems are reported to us by the bus, it would be considered successful," Nitta said. "There would only be certain routes that might work to do this on O'ahu. It wouldn't be every bus route."
About 225,000 people board the bus on O'ahu every day. Marilyn Dicus, marketing manager for O'ahu Transit Services, which operates the bus system under a contract with the city, said police officers are welcome on board.
"We've got really good relations with the police department and they often meet the bus on route," Dicus said. "Whenever there is any incident on a bus, the operator is to call our central control and seek assistance. Drivers do not call the police on their own when on the bus."
Nitta said if an arrest is made the officer will call for backup and get off the bus with the suspect at a convenient spot.
"The buses are pretty safe. It's just something we thought about as a preventive measure," Nitta said.
Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.
