INVESTIGATIONS

POLICE WILL CONTINUE TO DO JOBS THE RIGHT WAY

Walter Mahr (Letter, Jan. 22) wants to remove the chief of police and the mayor because the freeway was closed for too long in his estimation while the police conducted a homicide investigation.

Mr. Mahr thinks that an adequate investigation should have taken no more than 30 minutes.

It is inconceivable to me that anyone would put a traffic inconvenience before an investigation of a death, whether it be a murder or the result of a collision.

Our police officers and investigators will continue to do their jobs the right way for the right reasons. To do less would injure our community far more than any delay in traffic and resultant inconvenience.

CRIME

PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE RIGHT TO BE ARMED

The valiant 69-year-old man who attempted to stop the brutal beating that killed his neighbor in Kailua this month acted in full knowledge that he would likely receive severe injury himself (which he did.)

Not one witness to the attack possessed a self-defense weapon or was willing or capable of using it in righteous defense of self or others. Or were they fearful that by using a deadly weapon against the attacker they would become the criminal themselves?

This letter is not — I repeat NOT — a judgment of the victim's neighbors' character, but rather a criticism of our collective societal helplessness. The fact that the victim's neighbors were helpless to defend her from the deadly beating should put fear of similar attack in us all.

Until the majority of Hawai'i's citizens are prepared, and armed, to defend self and neighbor when the need arises, every one among us may one day be victim of such severe battery by those larger, stronger or more skilled in fighting than ourselves.

While we are fortunate that in Hawai'i very few attacks warranting the use of deadly defense occur, the Kailua murder is a striking reminder that our society is, apparently, incapable of defending our fellow man and woman when the need to do so is most desperate.

No number of police officers can prevent every senseless murder. The citizenry of this state should be better prepared, and armed, to defend self and neighbor when the need arises.

ALL CAN HELP IN ENDING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

A second week in a row in which a woman has been brutally murdered. When will it end?

Domestic violence is not a private issue. It's a societal issue, and there are many things you can do to help. If you see signs of verbal or physical abuse, call 911. Provide the victim with a non-judgmental ear and help with obtaining shelter. Get involved in outreach organizations.

Participate in the State Coalition Against Domestic Violence march at the Capitol that is held the week after each domestic violence-related death.

Parents, please talk with your sons about respecting girls and women.

Legislators and judges, please strengthen and enforce our laws so that these perpetrators do not violate protection orders.

And, abusers, please, please seek help before you hurt someone you love.

TRIBUTES

A LIVING MEMORIAL WOULD BE MORE FITTING

Recently, Honolulu residents responded to the shock of Cyrus Belt's tragic death by leaving balloons, toys, lei and notes on the Miller Street overpass.

While these roadside memorials are a tangible way the community grieves the loss of a neighbor, they often result in hundreds of dollars spent on items left outside to decay.

Contributions to charities, such as Catholic Charities or Helping Hands Hawai'i, would assist at-risk children, allowing the loss of one child to benefit others.

When action is called for, let's make the choice of a living memorial.

SAFETY

WE MUST BAN RIDING IN BACK OF PICKUP TRUCKS

The current law allowing passengers to ride in the open back of pickup trucks should be amended.

Hawai'i is one of a few states that still allows this dangerous practice to take place. The many injuries (often unforgiving) and fatalities arising from passengers being ejected or falling from the back of pickup trucks are simply not worth the risk.

The current law does not allow anyone under the age of 13 to ride in the back of pickups.

As I drive along O'ahu's roads, I still see young children riding in the back. It is chilling to see children and adults in the back while the driver races along on the freeways well above the posted speed limit.

It seems odd that the driver of a truck can be cited for not wearing a seat belt, yet unrestrained passengers may be transported without consequences.

The law needs to be changed before more people are injured or killed. A total ban on riding in the back of pickups is needed this legislative session in order to save lives and needless injuries.

BEACH LOCATION SIGNS WILL HELP SAVE LIVES

Rich Figel's Jan. 24 letter is misguided with regard to the city's placement of the beach emergency response location signs.

Yes, it is true that all 86 emergency response location signs erected at the beach rights of ways are on city property and not private property.

The rationale is simply that the time spent securing permission to post signs on private property would have either delayed or negated the implementation of this important service.

The city decided to erect signs on city property immediately, rather than delay this project while wrangling with private property owners.

These emergency response location signs were placed at the beach rights-of-way around the island to assist first-responders in pinpointing the location of 911 calls.

The city believes these signs will serve as invaluable life-saving tools. This was the premise that guided the city's decision and ultimately led to the project's implementation.

For Mr. Figel to infer that a cardiac arrest or drowning patient would be considered in a "tough luck" situation simply because of their remote physical location is not only insensitive, but does a disservice to all of the city's emergency personnel.

The city's Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Services Division, Department of Planning and Permitting, Department of Parks and Recreation, Honolulu Police Department, Honolulu Fire Department and Honolulu Emergency Medical Services Division all worked together to develop this important and much-needed public safety tool.

PRISONS

LET'S RETHINK ATTITUDES ABOUT INCARCERATION

Professor Ronald Becker (Focus, Jan. 20) compared our attitudes toward prisons with our out-of-sight, out-of-mind attitudes toward our overflowing trash dumps.

While I dislike comparing human beings to rubbish, he has a point. What we don't see is that our prisons impact us all. We spend $50 million per year on incarceration, a high price to pay for a revolving door where offenders return with more problems than before.

As he suggests, we need to take alternative approaches to incarceration. We can reduce our prison costs by increasing community-based treatment programs. We can reduce recidivism by instituting re-entry programs as well as gender and culturally responsive programs.

Yet the governor has not released funds for re-entry programs in the 2007 Community Safety Act.

Why should we spend money on programs for those being released from prison? Because it's about us. We who will live with the 90 percent of inmates who will be released into our community.

It's time to rethink our attitudes about incarceration and put a stop to policies that create more harm than good.

DRUGS

LAWMAKERS MUST ACT TO RID US OF ICE SCOURGE

Ice. Destroyer of life, love, happiness. Major contributor to civic mayhem.

Let's not let precious little Cyrus' life have been in vain. C'mon lawmakers! Either enact stiffer penalties or provide for more effective rehabilitation to rid Hawai'i of this menace.

Let's not forget Cyrus, let him be the child that leads us out of this hell called ice. Do it! Now!

GRANTS-IN-AID

NONPROFIT MET WITH MANY LEGISLATORS

In the two previous legislative sessions, I was one of the people who requested and received funding for a nonprofit CIP project.

The project is a children's environmental education center on Kaua'i. In both years, the process involved meetings with many legislators. The first year, we had meetings with 12 legislators, and in the second year we had meetings with 16.

Those meetings involved talking with each of the legislators about the project and progress we had made. We also brought pictures of the site to explain how the project would work and where it was in the Kaua'i community.

Rep. Mike Magaoay was very explicit in telling us that we need to meet with as many of the legislators from the Finance and Ways and Means committees as possible.

We were told that if we didn't explain clearly what we were looking for and why it was a benefit to the people of Hawai'i, we shouldn't receive any funding.

FREE PRESS

IT'S IMPORTANT TO OFFER OPPOSING OPINIONS

Lee Cataluna's column often offers diverse opinions and very interesting perspectives.

To speak out against the mainstream, such as when she wrote her own assessment of the June Jones' decisions, requires courage.

It reminds us how powerful journalism is in shaping public opinion, and how important it is for the newspaper to not suppress what it considers unpopular.

Reading and understanding opposing views is healthy.

A free press is one characteristic of a free society, and it is their duty to let it flourish.

HAWAIIANS

ARMY'S USE OF MAKUA IS NOT ARROGANCE

As a Native Hawaiian (50 percent), a Vietnam veteran who trained for combat in Hawai'i, I take strong exception to U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie's comment on Jan. 14 that the military's attempt to hold on to Makua is a "symbol of arrogance...indifference to Hawaiians...to the land."

We Hawaiians of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Hawaiians with family on active duty, those of the American Legion, etc., want to know who authorized him to speak for us.

The truth is he is using Hawaiians to support those protesters of Makua — most of whom are non-Hawaiians by my observation.

The use of Makua is not arrogance, because its terrain offers unit commanders a unique opportunity to observe while coordinating air, ground and support operations. As for the land, it is obviously the best kept and maintained on this side of the island.

As to its history, it was a cattle ranch in the 1930s, and guess what those animals left on all those supposedly sacred rocks?

We Hawaiians of Wai'anae's VFW believe that our soldiers' lives are far more sacred and important than anything in Makua.