Now people in this community of about 450 homes, who have seen an increase in the number of burglaries this year and a rise in the number of accidents on Ka-

luanui Road, want to do something. Last year there were 20 burglaries, thefts and thefts from vehicles in the Mariner's Ridge area and 11 accidents reported, according to police statistics. In the first 10 months of this year there have been 18 burglaries, thefts and thefts from vehicles and 12 accidents reported.

Crime has been a big issue for neighborhoods in East Honolulu of late. Niu Valley just banded together to remove a known drug house and a suspected one that were the alleged cause of a rash of burglaries in the community. Wai'alae Iki Ridge community has hired a security firm to patrol the streets. Wai'alae Nui area, around 'Ainakoa Avenue, several years ago formed a Neighborhood Security Watch force to keep tabs on the community.

In Mariner's Ridge residents are considering re-establishing their Neighborhood Security Watch program, erecting gates, hiring security personnel and working with the city to re-engineer the roadway.

At a recent meeting, about 50 residents voted by a show of hands on a number of options ranging from installing four-way stops at the first intersection on Kaluanui Road, installing speed bumps or humps, painting crosswalks, or installing electronic speed monitors and cones along the side of the road. Most favored erecting a gate.

Resident Morton Cotlar said the road needs to be fixed because there's a potential for serious harm to occur to a pedestrian, should a car get out of control.

"We need to do everything we can to avoid a tragedy," Cotlar said. "Because if we don't do something, we'll feel terrible that we haven't done enough if something goes wrong."

A committee has been set up, which is the first step in getting organized, said Police Sgt. Roy Hayamoto.

"It's all about a partnership," Hayamoto told residents. "The overall goal of any program is to increase the awareness. Your eyes, your ears let us know what's going on."

It's especially important since there are four officers assigned to the area between Makapu'u and Hawai'i Loa Ridge, which includes Mariner's Ridge. Police said that the only way to curb crime is to erect a manned gate or have security patrols.

In the past six months, Hawai'i Loa Ridge, which has a manned-security guard shack and a gate, had just one burglary and that was linked to a construction worker, Hayamoto said.

"You guys can enforce yourselves," he said. "You have one way in and one way out."