If residents want to stop crime in their neighborhoods, it’s time to be neighborly, police and experts said.
Community members, police officers and experts joined together to talk about the Neighborhood Watch program last week at Kealakehe Elementary School.
Neighborhood Watch organizer Jon Sabati became active in the program after his home was burglarized. His home on Oahu was struck twice before he moved to the Big Island. That third time was enough and he joined the group.
“My house got robbed. I said it ain’t gonna happen again,” he said.
One of his contributions was text message groups of people living in the Neighborhood Watch area. Within three minutes you can contact 500 people, he said.
The program helped police with “rounding up all the scrubs who was ripping us off,” he said.
Their crime rate has dropped dramatically, he said.
Sometimes he’ll get a message alerting him to a concern on his property, such as his dog barking unusually. His neighbor has checked over the property after such events to make sure everything is fine, he said.
That cooperation is what makes the program so effective, he said.
It’s not just nosiness, said county prosecutor Mitch Roth. It’s commitment to knowing the people in your neighborhood and their routines, he said.
And it’s not only adults who are doing well with this community effort, he said.
Roth said one of the major concerns in Kealakehe was the number of young people being killed in traffic accidents, many as a result of intoxicated driving. Students banded together to stop it, creating shirts and programs. The result was a four-year period in which there were no fatalities in the area involving young people.
That sort of result is possible with adults, too, he said.
One of the questions from the audience was about the success of the Neighborhood Watch program on the island.
Roth was complimentary of Leilani Estates in Puna.
He said that more than a decade ago the community was the “worst on the island.” Burglaries were a weekly occurrence and other crimes were rampant.
But the residents’ decision to start a Neighborhood Watch and keep at it made the difference, Roth said. He said the combined community and law enforcement effort has resulted in the community becoming one of the safest areas on the island.
“You don’t have to face the criminal element alone,” Roth said.
A community working together makes it difficult for criminals to target any one person, he said.
The goal of the Neighborhood Watch program is “… so your kids can play in the streets like we did growing up,” he said.
Roth said many crimes are perpetrated by the same criminals, with 42 percent committed against 10 percent of the victims and 10 percent of the locations have 60 percent of law enforcement calls. As a result, the enforcement made possible by Neighborhood Watch can assist in sending the criminals into jail. It also can make an area very unwelcome to criminals, who will find the area too risky to target.
“You can’t let these scrubs run your life,” Sabati said.
The Kealakehe Watch group will host a special meeting for people interested in the program from 7-8 p.m. today (Aug. 13) at Kealakehe Intermediate School.
People interested in starting a new group or unsure of who the local leader is should contact the Police Department at 326-4646, ext. 259.
Email Graham Milldrum at gmilldrum@westhawaiitoday.com.
