Posted on: Saturday, June 11, 2005
Killings hit 4-year high in Honolulu
By Peter Boylan
Advertiser Staff Writer
The number of Honolulu homicides reached a four-year high in 2004, even as violent crimes and property crimes decreased over the time period, new FBI figures show.
Of the 27 people who met violent deaths last year, eight were stabbed, seven were beaten, seven were shot, and five died in deliberately set fires.
A criminal justice expert said the reasons for the uptick can't be pinned on drugs or domestic abuse. And homicides cannot be controlled by implementing conventional policing strategies because the majority are crimes of passion that erupt in tense moments between known parties.
"Many murders are situational; the individual is killing out of a sense of anger, or passion, and is not considering the consequences of that behavior so police presence does not act as a deterrent," said Ron Becker, chairman of the criminal justice program at Chaminade University. "There is absolutely nothing we as a state can do to stop that from happening. We don't know when the next one is going to be, and frankly we all have that capacity, even if we deny it, and when stress and confrontation are to the point that we feel at a loss for a response a violent one isn't that unusual."
Law enforcement officials say that while enforcement can affect property crimes, and even some violent crimes such as aggravated assault, controlling homicides is extremely tough because of the unpredictable nature of the offense.
City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle said that homicide is not a crime for which you can prepare.
He said that compared with the early 1980s and 1990s, the number of murders in recent years has been good for a city the size of Honolulu. He said advances in medicine have helped keep many attempted murder cases from becoming homicides.
The number of homicides "while unacceptable, is nowhere near approaching the levels we've had historically," he said. "In general if we're controlling property crimes then violent crimes will go down. This bodes very well for the future."
Honolulu Police Department Capt. Janet Crotteau, who oversees the homicide detail, declined Tuesday to comment on the increasing number of violent deaths.
Last year began with a double murder resulting from a shootout between two groups of men.
On Jan. 7, 2004, Romilius Corpuz, 40, and Lepo Utu Taliese, 44 were gunned down in the parking lot of the Pali Municipal Golf Course after an argument between factions that provide security for illegal gambling dens got out of hand.
Rodney Joseph, 35, was indicted Jan. 13 along with Ethan "Malu" Motta, 34, and Kevin Gonsalves, 33, on charges of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and firearms charges.
Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8110.
Twenty-seven people were victims of homicide in Honolulu last year, compared with 15 in 2003. One, a wanted fugitive, was shot and killed by police during a standoff in Kalihi. Most of the dead were slain by someone they were acquainted with, police said.
