Honolulu's high number of property crimes, which often leave no suspects or other clues, was a main factor in the HPD's second-lowest crime clearance rate in the last 30 years, police officials said.

Responding to an Advertiser report that said police cleared 9.6 percent, or 4,488, of the 46,628 offenses reported last year, Honolulu police said they are not satisfied with a success rate of less than 10 percent, but emphasized that they continue to reduce the overall crime rate on O'ahu.

Also, additional investigators and patrol officers would help improve the department's success rate, Deputy Police Chief Paul Putzulu said Tuesday.

"Anytime you talk about a 10 percent number, you always want the number to be higher. You'd love to have a number that says we solve no less than half our crimes, but it's unrealistic," he said. "We're talking to our folks about what's up out there and do they have any ideas about why our rates are so low. We're always looking at our performance, but we never lose sight of the total picture, which is the reduction of crime, period. We've been successful with that for the last several years in a row."

Police officials and the officer's union point out that more than 90 percent of the reported offenses on O'ahu last year were property crimes, which often produce no evidence or witnesses.

Detective Alex Garcia, O'ahu chapter chairman of the State of Hawai'i Organization of Police Officers, said a more accurate picture of investigators' efforts would emerge if you consider the number of cases police close in which they have a suspect or a lead — about 90 percent, Garcia estimates.

"The way our department prioritizes these cases we have to go with the known suspects. Without a lead or a suspect we're just overwhelmed with the numbers," he said.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.