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Glen,
Far up the northwest coast of Maui, at the edge of the latest development, is a great beach. This past summer, I asked a policeman where great snorkeling was. He mentioned that beach but said to be careful of people stealing from the parked cars. When we got there, many cars were there and many people were at the beach and at the parking lot on the cliff above. A grown man (Local) with about 4 kids about 12 yrs old was setting in a truck. The kids were running around all the cars. Once they set off a car alarm and all the kids ran to the bushes across the road. It would have been easy to set up a sting operation there. The police just don't care.
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I have been here long enough to remember when leilani was a bad place to go , let alone live there. Like Punapetah is trying to promote, the NW got it together and run most of the "criminal element" that visited or lived in leilani out.
Hawaiian Acres also has a fairly strong neighborhood watch program - formal and informal both. Used to be if you were just visiting some one in the Acres, that a resident would stop you and just ask about where you were going. If you sounded faintly suspicious, the air waves would start to buzz with someone telling someone, etc until all sorts of people had stopped them to ask what they were doing. Definately that has somewhat stopped with so many people in there with realtors just looking at property.
Seaside Bob's theory is that you start making friends with any older people in your neighborhood - especially those who walk their dogs. Give them all your contact numbers. And when they call you seeing someone hanging around and you get there - be sure to thank them (profusely) - send a carpenter over to fix their 10 min gutter job. NO CHARGE. Or drop off a plant from your S/O's garden. Be a good neighbor before you move in and be sure your builders are good neighbors too and it helps.
Although someone might get snippity when you call them at work to say there is a green car in your driveway, and you have to say yah its just my mother in law... Dont get snippity. There may be that time when it isnt your mother in law.
Rob it seems like I'm the most concern when I need be the least concerned. Now I went door to door on my street, which is hard to do with gates and driveways to ? and loose dogs, but I got a dozen people on my block to kick in a check.
Tell me how, or who will be able to collect funds for a sting operation when we can't even get enough people to show up at meeting of get involved.
Most victims just take it, file insurance. But mentioned that won't get your grandmother's silver back. I got this roomfull of people to all agree to watch out for each other, because they are the ones being burgled. Trying to get the apathetic to move is another movie.
So ANNOUNCEMENT 1st Sat. of ea. month HPPNW meets at the activity center on Makuu. It's open to whom ever is concerned.
Rob are you in HPP?
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No, I'm not in HPP. I do sympathize with your situation. Apathy runs amuck here in Puna. Complainers are abundant however. I applaud your effort.
Personally I believe a sting would work, especially with some GPS homing.
If you can't get Emily to legally cut a check to your group perhaps, if you research the costs, get her to grant an amount to the police department for that specific purpose. Cops love new toys.
Putting thieves in jail, even for a few months, helps more than trying to constantly be on watch minute by minute and day by day.
I think Mitch Roth (deputy DA) would be receptive. Some internet research on GPS locating tech is needed. I found a nifty device called Loc8tor but it is only an alarm. Put loc8tor on your dog, kid, table saw, whatever and if it departs a preset radius an alarm goes off. Better is a GPS tracking device. If GPS can locate a property pin or a downed aircraft it can locate stolen goods. Pahoa Village is a designated Weed & Seed location. Maybe W&S status can get a grant for GPS homing for the PD.
Getting press on a new homing device sting effort should make even the dumbest thief think twice (well, maybe not - they don't /can't read the papers)... but watching their buds go off in cuffs might.
I would love to think that our society would become so proactive with education, job training, drug rehab and equal economic opportunity that a thief would become rare. I won't hold my breathe.
I know one local businessman who told me ten years ago he was a homeless drug addict thief. He begged a judge for rehab. He did that sincerely and now has a nice home, car, business and retirement ahead. Good for him. It can be done.
Assume the best and ask questions.
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The majority of money used to pay for "bait" and "sting" operations comes directly from the criminals themselves. OCCA gave each State the authority to make criminals pay for current and future operations designed to catch more criminals in the act of committing a crime. Hawaii was one of the States to enact simplified asset forfeiture laws to make it easy for the criminal justice system to take away the tools and profits of crime, and use them or sell them to pay for more operations against criminals. You can read the current law in HRS 712A.
Good luck.
Rob I've sat in Mitch's office with my dane mastiff and his assistant, crowded office. We've worked on a few cases. He provided me with the law that makes dumping a felony. But I've had other garbage on my street I've had to clean up, we ain't done yet. Carey gave me a resourse I'm gonna try tomorrow. another thread....
I will no longer speak for HPPNW, on on their behalf or as their Treasurer. Someone didn't like what I've said so some members got together and had a secret meeting, about my comments here< I'm flattered. I didn't think I had such a broad audience.
So fine. I have plenty mo things for put my energy. I guess the logic is they quiet me and they don't have to come up with the promised funds for last year. So ............John Paul Jones?
Ne Pas Sibur?
bringing this forward for Cat, because even though HPPNW doesn't want me speaking for them, I'll speak for myself.
And I have a map what we need to co-operation from the police and well ...............call them.
ask them where the money went. Let me know what they tell you.
"We got it taken care of"?, "we'll look into it"? and never get back to you,?
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Thanks Peter. The guys are thinking of all sorts of "deterrents" tonight. But the bad thing is - it happened in the middle of the afternoon. As the other theft did on 27th last week.
Catherine Dumond
Blue Water Project Management
808 217-7578
http://bluewaterpm.125mb.com/index.html
"We help make building your dream home a reality"
jm minica,(username) in the Building Forum was hit in HPP, I brought her post forward there, so maybe you guys can link up. How many other builders on this blog are building in HPP? Collectively they might want to do something?
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