HONOLULU (AP) — There’s increased security outside a Honolulu Walmart store, but officials won’t say why. ADVERTISING HONOLULU (AP) — There’s increased security outside a Honolulu Walmart store, but officials won’t say why. At the Keeaumoku Street Walmart, guards are
HONOLULU (AP) — There’s increased security outside a Honolulu Walmart store, but officials won’t say why.
At the Keeaumoku Street Walmart, guards are posted outside the store on the Makaloa Street sidewalk during overnight hours. They stand watch after the strip bars and hostess bars across the street close.
It’s not clear whether the guards are a response to increased crime or an increase in homeless people in the area.
A Walmart spokesman told the Star-Advertiser that the company does not discuss specifics of its security plans.
The neighborhood board chairman said he’s noticed a reduction in violent crime since 2013, when the Keeaumoku area saw a series of stabbings, gang fights and sexual assaults.
But Ala Moana-Kakaako Neighborhood Board Chairman Larry Hurst says there are still problem spots.
“It’s almost like between Sheridan and Keeaumoku, that block of Makaloa is kind of scary,” he said.
Hurst walks the area as a part of a neighborhood watch patrol two times per week. He said there are issues with drunks leaving the bars, vandalism, drug dealing and loitering in parks and parking lots near the 24-hour Walmart.
There’s also a new homeless camp that has popped up in the area, said Hurst.
The customers and employees at Makaloa Street businesses said they think the area is basically safe, but have heard reports of purse snatching.
Restaurant Aki waiter Takuma Suga said he thinks the visible security is a good idea around closing time.
“There are a lot of bars around here,” Suga said.
The guards began the overnight shifts about a month ago. They’re posted at the exits in the back of the store between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. and can call police if they notice criminal activity.
A Keeaumoku Street-area business was robbed Friday afternoon by a man and woman who brandished weapons, police said.
Police have responded to about 14 theft cases and an auto theft case near Walmart since July 11, according to a report on the Honolulu police website.
The website does not provide information on violent crimes, but police reported at least three assault arrests in the area in the past year.
