Posted on: Saturday, April 2, 2005
Officers hired to stop speeders
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
Moanalua Valley residents, tired of being victimized by criminals and speeders racing on Ala Aolani Street, are fighting crime by hiring special duty officers to patrol their neighborhood.
"I see drivers speeding in front of my home every day and my neighbors continue to be burglarized. It's been frustrating," said Thet Lwin, of the newly formed Moanalua Valley Patrol. "I don't blame the police, they are already overworked and can't be everywhere all the time."
Rep. Glenn Wakai helped organize the group after a series of burglaries and several serious accidents along the busy street, the only access road into the valley.
"We can continue to bemoan the lack of officers on our streets, or we can take control of our community," said Wakai, D-31st (Salt Lake, Tripler). "We're looking to deter criminals from preying on our community."
The group collected $70 for a special duty officer to patrol the valley from 10 p.m. to midnight yesterday. Neighbors identified this as prime racing time on Ala Aolani Street," Wakai said.
After evaluating the success of the first night, the group plans to raise enough money to hire a special duty officer at least every other month for the next year.
In 2003, Moanalua Valley residents waved signs on Ala Aolani Street asking drivers to slow down, but speeders continue to race down the street, which has a posted speed limit of 25 mph. Homes are burglarized and cars are stolen and stripped in the back of the valley.
Special duty officers are Honolulu police officers who work on their own time to provide higher visibility and to deter crime, according to police spokesman Capt. Frank Fujii.
"We have adequate staffing to address whatever crime problems and social issues in a given area," Fujii said. "Sometimes the citizens in a community want that added feeling of security or protection. We welcome these collaborations."
Special duty officers have patrolled residential communities including Waipio Gentry, Waikele, Royal Kunia, Tantalus, Village Park, Olomana and West Loch Estates for more than a decade.
The officers are usually hired by homeowners associations who pay their wages and a $5 fee to cover worker's compensation insurance through the city.
The officers are generally used for special events and traffic control during construction, but cannot be hired as private security, Fujii said.
Toki Nishida, 74, lives on Ala Aolani Street, and said his home was burglarized a few years ago. Finding nothing of value inside the home, police told him the criminals waited inside the home to rob him when he returned. They eventually left before he and his wife got back, but things could have been much worse.
"Somebody broke into our front door," Nishida said. "He waited for us to come home. In the meantime his partner was burglarizing other homes and he came back and they left. We were just lucky."
Nishida now keeps an eye on his neighbors' homes during the day. At night, many elderly people and children walk along the road and he hopes the new police presence will make a difference to stop speeding.
"Maybe with the police officer monitoring traffic, it will slow the down," he said. "Just the police cars out there will make a difference."
Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.
