Shortages impair anti-racing program in Pearl City
By Peter Boylan
Advertiser Staff Writer
Two programs that police say are successful at curtailing speeding and racing in East Honolulu are not being used in other problem areas such as Pearl City because manpower and money are not always available, officials said yesterday.
Besides a shortage of officers, police said, it is up to the commanding officer in each of the Honolulu Police Department's eight districts to decide whether to request the programs.
Police said each district at various times uses some kind of speed prevention program.
"Every district commander looks at his own district and chooses programs" based on law enforcement priorities for that area, said Assistant Chief Stephen Watarai, head of HPD's Central Patrol Bureau.
Since October 2001, police in District 7 — which encompasses the area from Punahou Street to Makapu'u — have used the Racing Abatement Program and the Speed Abatement Program to crack down on speeding, racing and reckless driving.
Both programs were begun after Holy Trinity School teacher Elizabeth Kekoa was killed in an H-1 Freeway collision near Kaimuki in August 2001. She was riding in a van struck by a car driven by a man who city prosecutors say was racing at more than 100 mph.
In the Racing Abatement Program, two police officers drive up and down the freeway and Kalaniana'ole Highway looking for speeders. As many as four other officers wait at strategic intervals along the highways to intercept the speeders. The program operates almost every night .
The program netted an arrest at about 12:20 a.m. yesterday when police arrested a 23-year-old man after an officer clocked him driving faster than 100 mph.
The arresting officer saw a Nissan jockeying for position with a Honda Prelude on H-1 near the University Avenue on-ramp. The Honda slowed down as the officer merged onto the freeway, but the driver of the Nissan sped up. Police pulled the driver over at the Sixth Avenue off-ramp and arrested him on suspicion of reckless driving.
"I think he thought the HPD car was racing him," District 7 Capt. Marie McCauley said yesterday.
Police handed out 741 citations for reckless driving in 2003, arresting 76 people in the most serious cases. Reckless driving is much easier to prove than racing, police said. In 2003, 12 people were arrested for racing, up from two in 2002.
District 7's Speed Abatement Program entails the temporary posting of large, orange, diamond-shaped signs designating a speed abatement area. McCauley said the signs are posted on residential streets; occasionally an officer with a radar gun will stand next to a sign.
McCauley said both programs have significantly reduced reckless driving and speeding in her district.
Maj. Bryan Wauke of the HPD Traffic Division said the orange signs used in District 7 are not yet used everywhere because the department has not bought enough of them.
"We knew speeding was a priority from the beginning of the year; it has always been a priority," Wauke said. "We're trying for stiffer penalties but we're not sure they work."
He said there is no proof that citing and arresting more people will lead to fewer traffic fatalities.
Albert Fukushima, chairman of the Pearl City Neighborhood Board, said he has been told by police that programs similar to the ones used in East Honolulu could be used in his district if HPD could come up with the money and the manpower.
Fukushima called Pearl City a high-crime area where speeding is prevalent.
"We've been told that (the police) have tried and nothing has come forth," Fukushima said. "I guess (District 7) has the influence to get those programs."
The Feb. 13 fiery crash on H-1 Freeway that killed four men occurred just past the Pearl City off-ramp in District 3, which encompasses the area from Red Hill to Village Park.
District 3 Lt. Benjamin Ballesteros echoed Fukushima's statements but said that when manpower permits, the substation does post two officers on the freeways, usually on weekends. He said there is a manpower shortage in Pearl City.
"Assignments in other areas have dwindled our patrol rosters. If there are any programs that we start, some of it has to be on overtime and that is hard to come by," he said.
Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8110.
