75 teens step up to fight crime
By Kawehi Haug
Advertiser Staff Writer
It was the last thing a kid would want to do on a Saturday.
Wake up at 7 a.m. Spend all day in a classroom taking notes, working on assignments and making oral presentations.
But the 75 teenagers at the tables discussing their next assignment wanted to be there.
The kids, from public-housing communities islandwide, were participating in a program at the Honolulu Police Academy yesterday designed to train young people to combat crime and drugs in their communities.
The teenagers represented four public housing complexes: Kalihi Valley Homes; Nanakuli Homes; Wahiawa Terrace, and Pu'uwaimomi. They were there to support one another in an effort that many of them said seems like a lost cause.
But they don't feel like giving up just yet.
"I'm just concerned about my neighborhood," said one 14-year-old boy. "If we don't do something, the crime is going to go from medium to high to very high." The Advertiser is not publishing his name or the names of other children in the program to protect them from possible fallout or retaliation.
The training program is part of Youth Crime Watch of America, a national nonprofit organization that teaches kids and the adults who work with them about crime prevention strategies.
The Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawai'i sponsors the program and finds adults to be youth advisers. The advisers find willing kids to start Youth Crime Watch Groups that discuss strategies for improving their communities.
During yesterday's training, the groups were asked to draw a map of their communities, pinpointing the crime "hotspots."
The kids knew exactly where the drug deals go down, where the gambling rings meet and where the vandals jump the gate. And they're ready to do something about it, even if it means ratting out someone they know.
"I'm not scared to tell on someone who's doing something bad," said a 12-year-old girl, who wants to be a police officer when she grows up. "I'll tell them that I know what they're doing and then if they don't stop, I'll call the cops."
Her determination was echoed by most kids at the seminar.
"Next year I'm leaving to go to college and I want to know that I've left something good behind," a 17-year-old said. "My neighborhood isn't safe for us or our families, and I'll do whatever I have to do to change it."
But the kids understand the danger of being on the right side of the tracks.
"I know it could come back down on us if people find out we're doing this," said a 15-year-old girl. "But I think I can handle — I have to."
Bill Stansberry, a trainer for Youth Crime Watch of America, said the program stresses the importance of reporting crimes in a manner that is safe for the kids. "Many of the kids we work with are used to the dangers of the street," said Stansberry, a retired police captain from Ohio. "But we're still very cautious about making sure that the kids can report crimes anonymously."
Communities are urged to set up anonymous reporting centers where kids can call a hotline or use a tipbox to report crime, he said.
"Of course I know people who are doing stuff that is against the law," said a 16-year-old girl. "But I'm more scared of not doing something than doing something ... It's better for everyone if we speak up."
Yesterday's group is the second group of kids on O'ahu to be trained. The first group was trained in January and included kids from Kuhio Park Terrace and Kalakaua Homes.
