This is my rifle, this is my gun.....

[EightFingers]

Crime such as what you're discussing here is more destructive than you think. On a psychological level, the perception a place is dangerous, drastically lowers its value. Dangerous neighborhood means housing values will be very low. Low housing values means lower taxes on to lower services and so on. It's a vicious downward spiral and is very difficult to stop.
I have witnessed this here in Kansas City in the death of two (used to be) popular shopping malls. One is Bannister Mall whihc had about 200 hundred stores and about 10 restaurants. It was THE mall to shop in Kansas City. After about 15 years the robberies and car break-ins began. Security was beefed up even to the point of offering escorts to customers that requested them. About 2005, people finally decided it was too dangerous to go there. The mall is now boarded up and waiting for the dozers to bury it.
The other mall was Indian Springs and it was popular mall on the Kansas side. Drugs and the related crimes are what killed that one. These malls closed during what was then the top of the economic cycle here.
I'd hate to see this happen to the Puna area, it would be a tragic waste that no one dares live there for fear of crime.
My dad was a cop and he said the best way to deter crime is with human eyes.