The city is responding to concerns over increased crime in Chinatown with a series of short- and long-term solutions, including installing more surveillance cameras and working more closely with community groups and police.

The mayor will unveil details of the plan at a news conference today in Chinatown. Bill Brennan, city spokesman, said some of the strategies will be kickstarted in this fiscal year and be worked into existing departmental budgets. Others, including more security cameras, could come in subsequent years because they would require new funding.

Brennan said the plan — drawn up in internal city meetings over the past week — was designed as a blueprint for "how the police and community can chip in and basically get involved and help improve conditions in Chinatown."

The news comes on the heels of two violent attacks in Chinatown, which left a 35-year-old fatally shot and two others injured. The attacks have caused widespread concern among residents and merchants, and spurred the police to step up their presence in the neighborhood, calling in officers from other districts to patrol by foot and in cars.

POLICE EVERYWHERE

In Chinatown yesterday, police could be seen at almost every turn.

And their presence was welcomed by many.

"The police presence has been significant. You see them pretty much on every corner," said Tony Nguyen, manager at Lin's Lei Shop on Maunakea Street. "It does serve its purpose. It does calm fears and makes people feel more comfortable."

Michael Domingo, 38, who was visiting a friend in Chinatown, agreed.

"This plague needs to be dealt with with severity," he said.

Community leaders have also praised the city response to the attacks, while questioning whether more couldn't have been done sooner to prevent them.

"We've been telling them for well over a year to do something," said Frank Lavoie, chairman of the Downtown Neighborhood Board. "We all see the drug deals going down."

Chu Lan Shubert Kwock, president of the Chinatown Business & Community Association, said Chinatown has been a "neglected area" and said the increased police presence and other city proposals are a "good first step."

She added, "We're finally getting the ears" of city leaders.

RALLY PLANNED

The Chinatown Business & Community Association is sponsoring a rally and march tomorrow in Chinatown to speak out against the recent attacks and bring attention to the problem. Kwock said scores of people who live and work in the area, along with those who visit, are expected to turn out.

The discussion of worsening crime in Chinatown comes nearly three years after the city kicked off a project to revitalize the neighborhood. In June 2006, the mayor held the "Chinatown Summit" and pledged to work closely with hundreds of business owners and some 3,000 residents within the 15 blocks that make up the historic district.

Business owners first started raising public concerns about an apparent rise in Chinatown crime in February, when they came out in force to a neighborhood board meeting. In response, police increased patrols, while also pointing out Chinatown has seen a long downward trend of serious crime. Patrols were beefed up again after the recent attacks, which police blamed on a turf war between rival criminal groups.

The two attacks happened yards from each other. In the first attack, on March 28, Joseph Peneueta was fatally shot about 4:10 a.m. by two men at the intersection of River and Pauahi streets. Then, last Friday afternoon, a group of men stabbed a man and beat up his female acquaintance apparently in retaliation for the first attack, police said.

Police Chief Boisse Correa said this week the attacks involved groups fighting over the distribution of drugs in Chinatown, primarily cocaine.

LONG-TERM PLAN

Lynne Matusow, Downtown Neighborhood Board member, said she welcomes an increased police presence and is also eager to see what the city proposes to do in the long term to tackle crime. She added that she supports the proposal for more security cameras, but added that cameras alone aren't enough to kick out wrongdoers.

"It's going to deter some people and it's not going to deter others," she said.

The Downtown board voted this month to support a resolution that would add surveillance cameras in Chinatown, which already has 26 cameras. The camera system, installed a decade ago, has been plagued with problems. At one point, most of the cameras were down. But the cameras were all working earlier this month.

But they apparently failed to catch either of the recent attacks.

Yu, of the police department, said police "do not have any footage" of the violence.