Three weeks after the city's new "illegal camping" ordinance went into effect, dozens of homeless campers are still staying nightly in Kapi'olani Park at the gateway to Waikiki.

Police have given out warnings to homeless campers in Kapi'olani, but have not been issuing citations or asking people to move on, campers and social service providers said.

Elsewhere on O'ahu, though, officers have been issuing citations to those who violate the ordinance, which took effect Sept. 5.

From Friday night to early Wednesday morning, officers issued 23 citations for illegal camping islandwide, police said. Police also issued at least 41 citations for being in a park after it was closed, and handed out more than 50 warnings to those violating the laws.

Police spokeswoman Michelle Yu could not say when campers in Kapi'olani could expect to start seeing citations, and could not provide information on the reasons for the lag in enforcement. But it appears part of the reason for the wait is to make sure the large contingent of homeless campers in Kapi'olani know about the new law and its consequences.

"The goal is not to issue as many citations as you can," Yu said of the law.

Still, the situation is frustrating some Waikiki residents and perplexing service providers, who have been unable to give homeless in the park a definite date for when they'll have to move out.

"I'm so confused," said Darlene Hein, program director of Care-a-Van, which provides supplies and outreach to homeless around O'ahu. "Nobody seems to have any real knowledge (on when the law will be enforced). I don't know what they're doing. It's a waiting game."

EXPECTING ACTION SOON

Louis Erteschik, of the Waikiki Neighborhood Board, said it's strange that police would not act more quickly to move homeless out of Kapi'olani, since so many people were raising concerns about the encampment and how it might affect tourism in the state's top destination.

If nothing is done by the end of the month, more residents and businesses are going to start asking questions, he said.

"We expect something to be done soon," he said. "This is the law."

Since the new ordinance was enacted, homeless providers have been working with the homeless campers in Kapi'olani Park in hopes of getting some into shelters or other programs. They say some homeless have moved on to other parks or shelters.

Many more have decided to stay.

The encampment at Kapi'olani Park, which started taking shape about a year ago, is one of the largest in urban Honolulu. At its biggest, shortly before the new ordinance was passed, there were about 150 people staying in Kapi'olani at night, service providers said.

That number has shrunk to about 100 since the law was enacted.

Those who are still sleeping in Kapi'olani say they were certain officers would have already moved them out by now.

"I don't know what's going on. It doesn't make sense," said Kimo Aina, 46.

Aina has been homeless in Kapi'olani for about four months.

He said police and service providers have told him about the new law, but he hasn't been asked to take down his large tent at night. At about 1 p.m. on a recent afternoon, Aina sat on a beach chair outside his tent, which was on the fence that separates Kapi'olani from the Waikiki Shell.

Several other tents lined the fence, and more were in the park.

Near the soccer fields, Charles Mailo sat on a cot reading a book.

He doesn't have a tent, but sleeps on the cot in the park and puts a tarp over himself if it rains. He has been at Kapi'olani for about two months, he said, after moving from Downtown Honolulu, where he slept in doorfronts at night or in 'A'ala Park during the day.

Mailo, 51, plans to go to Ke'eau Beach Park in Makaha if he has to leave Kapi'olani. He and his friends bought a permit to camp at Ke'eau.

"I really just need housing," said Mailo, who has no income.

LAW PASSED AUG. 22

The City Council unanimously passed the new illegal camping measure Aug. 22, nine months after the Hawai'i Supreme Court struck down a similar law that banned camping in parks.

The court said the old law was too vague.

In the absence of the camping law, and with no set hours for Kapi'olani, police had no grounds to kick people out of the park (and other parks with no set hours) at night as long as they weren't breaking other laws. Waikiki residents and businesses have supported the new illegal camping measure, while advocates for the homeless say it provides no solutions.

The Kapi'olani Park situation comes amid the city's yearslong, islandwide effort to clean up parks, which includes moving out homeless campers. This month, for example, the city has said it plans to eliminate overnight camping at two more parks on the Wai'anae Coast.

City Councilman Charles Djou said he is growing increasingly frustrated with the wait in moving homeless campers out of Kapi'olani at night, and said police should act soon.

"It is the law of the land," said Djou, whose district includes Kapi'olani Park. He added that he recently spoke with Honolulu Police Chief Boisse Correa about the new law, and Correa told him the department was moving slowly to diminish the chances of another lawsuit.

Correa could not be reached for comment. Bill Brennan, city spokesman, said that enforcement and implementation of the new law was up to HPD.

Meanwhile, service providers say they are continuing to reach out to homeless in the park to get them connected to services and shelter.

Shelter space in the urban core is hard to find for some segments of the population, including homeless single women. There is space, however, for single men and a few slots open for homeless families.

The homeless in Kapi'olani, providers say, are mostly single.