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I absolutely believe a preventive approach is effective. I keep my eye on my neighbor's homes and they keep an eye on mine. Just the other night two suspicious cars were blocking the street in front of my house. I went out, clicked a few pictures (didn't show up in the dark too well, though). When they saw the flash, they left.
Haven't had a break in in our immediate vicinity since I've been here, knock on wood...
Tim
A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions--Confucius
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This is the best crime prevention taking, care of each other.
I like it here in the shallow end of the gene pool
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Aloha alaskasteven ,
It's an interesting idea... I would have to take it up with the BoD and membership. There is potential in making things happen instead of just trying to talk to Police into being more active. A meeting with the new Chief of Police might be a way to start. Instead of asking them to do more - go into a meeting and say "this is what we are going to do".
It is proactive but there are limits to what FoPF can do at any one point in time. More membership, more money, means more projects.
It would be helpful if one or more of our members (you perhaps?) wanted to spearhead something like this.....
Assume the best and ask questions.
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When we're on island in March, I bet there are gonna be a lot of pictures taken of us becuase we plan on exploring the Puna area a LOT. I wish there was a way to make us look less "suspicious", but maybe if people come out and ask what we're doing it might give us a chance to meet more of the locals/future neighbors.
Alaskasteven, I love the "fake TV". I'm seriously thinking about ordering that!
Puna: Our roosters crow first
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quote:
Originally posted by Kahunascott
Do you think an organized neighborhood watch program will work?
Taking turns driving up and down roads with signs on the car doors?
Recording license plates and taking pictures of suspicious individuals.
The criminals will move to a location that is an easier hit if they know our area is patrolled. The last thing they want is confrontation, and word will get out and they will move on....
I agree that it will work. Honomu has put together an informal community watch for the village and for Akaka Falls. Yes it is the old guys doing it - I am talking ages 70+ -- [  ][ ] but just the fact that someone is there, with a cell to call HPD, taking pics of lic plates (in fact this is finally moving my Dad into the digital camera age!!!) - a presence at the park, the falls, down main street, and occasionally Kolekole, is helping drop the crime rate especially of thefts involving tourist cars, vandalism at night in the village and the park/gym, and home invasion. Granted Honomu is much smaller than HPP or HA or FA or FF but they only have less than a dozen CW volunteers. A guy named Jude had done this for years pretty much by himself.
One of the community watch even told the ice house people, "we are watching" and maybe it made the ice heads a little paranoid. I dont know if that was just the straw or if the ice heads go wind of something else, or couldn't pay their rent but they are moving out of Honomu.
Some of the other things that helped vandalism or crimes of opportunity for the grade school kids was having a computer center next to the bakery where they can go after school and hang out. The school bus drops them off right in front of it. Some of the same old guys are part of the volunteers for it - the kids teach the old guys how to use email, etc... The gym also has more community programs that are run by volunteers.
Honomu does differ though from HPP in that it is very much smaller, more people know each other, and there are almost no vacation home rentals (so fewer empty houses), and most people living there are committed to keeping their neighborhood a real community because a healthy percentage of the residents have generational roots there so there is some stake holding in the health of the village right off the bat. There is also a mix of generations more evenly % spread - kids to grandparents - and then a mix of 50-60's - but the me generation is not the overwhelming group out there. (Do not take offense but the Baby Boomers have made an impact on everything.) There is also much more even mix of "locals", ka'aimaina, and malahine.
Don't get me wrong - how many times have I heard out there "well when so-so lived on Akaka Falls Rd" (which became "old" Akaka Falls rd, and now is Stable Camp Rd) "we did it this or that way", and the malahine don't know what they are talking about. Yes, they have the same issues as other places, the bickering, differences of opinions on how to do things, speeding through their neighborhood and Hwy 220, differences on development, traffic (anyone remember the landslide out there on Hwy 19 in early 2000's?), and emergency services response time (PD,FD, and ambulances). The closest PD & FD is Hilo and Laupahoehoe - both +13 miles. Took FD 22 mins when Akaka Falls Inn burned down.
IMHO, they reclaimed their community because people became involved. (Can't tell you about guns because the only one who carried one is the PO who lives in Honomu.)
For some history of Honomu, in the 1920's-50's - it was the wild west - they had 4 churches, 3 saloons, and a opium den (under the old theater) out there. The town & surrounding area had a population of 5000+ when sugar was king, it dropped to 600-700 in the village by the 90's. Vacant storefronts made it look like a ghost town. Now population is 1000+ and mainstreet until 2008 was bustling.
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It's an interesting idea... I would have to take it up with the BoD and membership. There is potential in making things happen instead of just trying to talk to Police into being more active. A meeting with the new Chief of Police might be a way to start. Instead of asking them to do more - go into a meeting and say "this is what we are going to do".
It is proactive but there are limits to what FoPF can do at any one point in time. More membership, more money, means more projects.
It would be helpful if one or more of our members (you perhaps?) wanted to spearhead something like this.....
My experience is when people in large numbers speak with a unified voice then even historically neglected and ignored districts become noticed and heeded. Communities setting up Neighborhood Watch programs (if more than 50% of the households are represented at a neighborhood orientation meeting then the community is in business as a Neighborhood Watch area- this is all it takes) would be huge. More individuals joining Friends of Puna's Future, too. Both are constructive steps bringing Puna closer to having fair and equal services --from roads and sidewalks to fire and police coverage to adequate medical and post office capacity-- commensurate with the tax contribution and percentage of population Puna represents.
If some folks with actual background and experience in police work, security work, military intelligence operations, and so on were to join FoPF and head up a working committee tasked toward crime prevention then I would be glad to join and support such an effort (an image pops into my mind of Don Knots and The Apple Dumpling Gang).
Rob is correct that the local politicians and police will pay much more attention if we demonstrate we are moving forward whether with them or without them. Heck, at least half of what the average politician does is to figure out which way a crowd is already heading then run around in front of them, wave his or her hands dramatically in the air for the cameras, and bellow "Follow me!"
We do not so much need posturing politicians (though we do occasionally need their votes in council meetings) as we need experienced, competent, local folks with a genuine vested interest in seeing the community improve. My background, expertise (such as it is), and interests are more suited toward heading up a different effort or efforts aimed toward health and education improvement. Not having experience in the area I do not really feel qualified to head up an effort in crime prevention, though I'd be glad to join and work on such a committee.
We must have some folks in Puna with experience in such matters. How about it, is there a Cincinnatus or several out there tending his or her fields in Puna upon whom we may call to lead a FoPF committee aimed at crime prevention efforts, given the FoPF BoD and membership approve such an undertaking and the community then enthusiastically votes with checks and PayPal donations to fund such an effort? It would sure be more likely to wake up political interest, enroll support of the new chief of police, and break out of the same old, same old if a tangible effort toward local folks doing something proactive about crime prevention could be demonstrated.
Proactively doing something sure beats feeling powerless and helpless, like a victim.
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"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence."
Pres. John Adams, Scholar and Statesman
"There's a scientific reason to be concerned and there's a scientific reason to push for action. But there's no scientific reason to despair."
NASA climate analyst Gavin Schmidt
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Edited to correct a typo.
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Astonishing skill! This archer is a real-life Legolas and then some!
http://geekologie.com/2013/11/real-life-...rs-anc.php
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these are great ideas! positive and constructive
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Factors that embolden criminals? I believe one factor that's relevent to HPP anyway, is the large number of new homes sitting vacant now. They must be a magnet to thieves, and by association, other houses in the area are scrutinized also. What to do? I like the "sting".
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Greg's question "What to do?" with regard to all the new unoccupied houses in some areas is a good one. Placing --with, of course, the owners' approval and cooperation-- some radio-beacon/GPS tracker tagged items inside some of those homes could provide a measure of protection by changing the cost-benefit ratio for stripping the fixtures from unoccupied homes in thieves' calculations of risk. If subsequent detection and arrests follow leading to fines, confiscations and incarceration then it will make such enterprises unprofitable and remove some thieves from circulation. If community watch groups are invited by owners of unoccupied houses to periodically come by and check on the places, this may be useful as well.
On another subject related to radio tags, thieving, and the prevention thereof I have heard there is a problem with prize dogs and puppies as well as parrots being stolen on the Big Island. Microchip tagging one's pets might assist with this as well:
Dog Safety - Choosing GPS, Microchips, Tattoos or ID Tags for Your Pet
http://www.vehicletracks.org/gps-article...-your-pet/
Recovering a Pet Bird That's Been Lost or Stolen - Tips That Can Help You Bring Your Lost Bird Home
http://birds.about.com/od/livingwithabir...heft_2.htm
Pet ID Tips:
http://www.k9web.com/dog-faqs/dog-supplies.html#pet_id
Stolen Dogs: Nine Ways to Prevent Theft
(just click through the annoying pop-up window at this URL; you can still read the article without registering at the site)
http://www.petplace.com/dogs/stolen-dogs...page1.aspx
On yet a different but related topic, the head of a Neighborhood Watch program --himself a retired police officer-- told me that while having a video tape is better than nothing for making homeowner's insurance claims after a loss due to theft (or fire), videotape records are worthless to the police. They do not have the time to watch an hour of home video to try to spot a glimpse of this, that, and the other stolen item here and there in the tape, nor the technological tools to make printed images of those glimpses. Rather, what helps the police to identify and recover stolen property (and facilitates insurance claims) are clear digital camera images. A clear photo of each item, labeled in a logical manner so the homeowner can actually find the image on a CD or in a memory stick. These are easy to make prints from and send quickly from place to place via e-mail.
Be sure, once photos are taken in a home inventory (do not forget the tools and automotive or sporting items located out in the garage or barn) to keep a copy of the record you have made somewhere other than at your house -after all, if the place is looted or burns down and your record is also gone then you are up the proverbial creek without a paddle. This, by the way, is also a good idea with photocopies of important documents and copies of irreplacable family photos or film negatives and suchlike. Keeping this record in a safe deposit box at the bank is good because it is secured away from the house but can be accessed relatively easily, yet it is important to also keep another back-up copy of the record far away from the local area (as with a relative on the mainland). Seems paranoid to have a copy with a relative living far away, but as it turns out, looking back through history, when there is a big disaster of some sort which nails a whole town or area (fire, flood, tsunami, massive earthquake, volcanic eruption, war, etc) those who have such a packet in safekeeping with a relative located far away do not completely lose everything; they have something solid to start with afterward in establishing their legal identities, making insurance claims and putting their lives back together. This tip came from a seminar I attended a few years ago by an expert on identity theft prevention (he also said to either keep and cut up or to demagnetize all your hotel room plastic key cards, too, instead of leaving them in the hotel room for the maid to dispose of or handing them back to the desk clerk: those hotel key cards have all your credit card info and home address --which you are not at, if you are at a hotel far away-- encoded on them).
Some services will do the home inventory professionally; I do not know if such a service is available in Puna. Example-
http://www.homevideoinventory.com/id10.html
Another useful tip from the retired police officer heading up a Neighborhood Watch program: be sure to record the serial numbers on everything which has such a number. Use a carbide-tipped stylus or an engraving pen to write your unique driver's license number (not social security number) on items of value. A driver's license number can be used to trace an item back to you even from another state, but does not compromise you (unlike a social security number). Without a serial number &/or your driver's license number engraved in an item, the police cannot release it to you even if they bust a warehouse of stolen goods (yes, it looks just like your tool/electronics/whatever, but guess how many other people also bought the same items at the same stores and subsequently reported them stolen?); with unique identifiers such as serial numbers and engraved driver's license numbers stolen items can find their way back to you even from across the country. Here are some other comments on being sure to make a record of serial numbers:
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/open-dv-discu...video.html
Finally, someone already said this last year in another thread on construction sites being ripped off but is such a good tip as to be worth repeating: spray-painting one's tools with an obnoxiously bright color (pink, blaze orange, neon green, yellow) kills their potential flea market resale value for thieves eyeing such goods. They stand out too clearly as being so-and-so's ripped off tool. It also makes tools more likely to come home again rather than being accidentally mixed in with someone elses' tools on a project, and easier to find when mislaid!
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"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence."
Pres. John Adams, Scholar and Statesman
"There's a scientific reason to be concerned and there's a scientific reason to push for action. But there's no scientific reason to despair."
NASA climate analyst Gavin Schmidt
)'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'(
Edited to correct typo.
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Astonishing skill! This archer is a real-life Legolas and then some!
http://geekologie.com/2013/11/real-life-...rs-anc.php
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This story on ABCnews.com is about exactly what I am suggesting.....
GPS, Hidden Cameras Watching Over Baby Jesus
Foiling December pranksters, GPS systems and hidden cameras protect mangers and menorahs:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/WireStory?id=6430924&page=1
What's so hard about this?
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Assume the best and ask questions.
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