Neighborhood watch

PO‘IPU — Several things were made crystal clear at the Tuesday Kaua‘i Chamber of Commerce crime-prevention seminar at the Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i Resort and Spa:

— Networking and sharing information on suspicious people, vehicles and activities can help deter crime;

— Owners and managers of vacation-rental properties have obligations to guests and owners to beef up surveillance, security and lighting systems, and let visitors know that some simple, common-sense tactics can help them from becoming crime statistics;

— It is, unfortunately, only a matter of time before a brazen burglar entering a home where visitors are present commits a crime (murder, assault, sex assault, etc.) much worse than first-degree burglary;

— Those committing crimes are cunning and organized, and those wishing to prevent such crimes need to get organized as well;

— Where South Shore visitor accommodations are concerned, security is everybody’s business; and

— This ain’t your father’s Garden Island anymore.

Marianne Martin, general manger of the Whalers Cove condominiums, said she was surprised to hear that the board of directors of the owners association was willing to put up money for added security.

She was even more surprised when, discussing security in her property’s parking lot with Charles Iona of Waimea Plantation Cottages, a man drove in saying he was looking for some non-existent person when he was in reality casing the property for possible burglary options after dark.

Kaua‘i Police Department Lt. Dan Abadilla, commander of the Waimea district that also includes Po‘ipu, handed out and discussed statistics that show the number of first-degree burglary cases in the Koloa district nearly doubled from just under 70 in 2006 to nearly 140 last year.

In June of this year, just two burglaries were reported on the South Shore, that number jumping to 30 in July (and 79 islandwide), and down to seven in August, Abadilla said.

Gone are the days when KPD officers were called to Po‘ipu mostly on parking and traffic concerns, Abadilla said.

It is the smaller condominium projects, and single-family vacation-rental homes, ones thieves know aren’t protected by regular security patrols, that are targets of burglars, he said.

And thieves are also targeting rental cars, with 16 South Shore cases of unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle (UEMV) between June and August of this year, with losses of $11,000. The burglary losses were $56,000 on the South Shore during those same three months.

To some business owners, those figures might not seem that high, he said.

“For us, it’s a lot, even $10 if someone’s been victimized,” he said. Also, it could result in lost revenue for businesses if the visitors decide not to return to Kaua‘i again as a result of their previous experience.

Visitors and residents alike have been victims of crimes along Lawa‘i Road and its vicinity, and some like Lucy Kawaihalau of Kaua‘i Vacation Rentals and Real Estate, and Amio Road victim Judy Neale, think the problem might be in part due to people congregating at Kukui‘ula Small Boat Harbor after dark.

Abadilla said enforcement is taking place at the harbor.

Locked doors ward off some burglars, but a trend on the South Shore is that burglars are still trying to gain access to units even with locked doors, Abadilla said.

Sue Kanoho, executive director of the Kaua‘i Visitors Bureau, echoed the sentiments of many of the 40 attendees at the Tuesday meeting when she said it is only a matter of time before a burglar enters an occupied vacation rental, is confronted by occupants, and commits a more serious crime, like murder, assault or sexual assault.

“A majority has been visitors, unfortunately,” she said of burglary victims, including one family that was hit twice in the same unit during their one-month stay recently.

Abadilla and others also concurred that today’s thieves are organized, work in groups, case out likely targets, identify specific rental cars going in and out of a target, and know the neighborhoods very well.

Guest safety needs to be the ultimate bottom line, “and you protect that source,” said Iona, a Kaua‘i Police Commission member and head of security at Waimea Plantation Cottages.

Without visitors coming to the island, there will be no need for security, he said.

“We know that Po‘ipu sticks out like a sore thumb” in terms of crime trends, said Iona, adding that it is imperative that the private sector assist in reversing those trends.

At Waimea Plantation Cottages, there was a burglary a month before Iona’s arrival, he said. Now, there are none, and it is because of his proactive approach, use of technology to identify potential perpetrators, engagement of every vehicle and person coming on property, and other means, he said.

The message to would-be thieves is clear: “You’ve been made,” he said.

“We all need to do it differently, and better,” Kanoho said. “People are taking advantage of our visitors, our trust.”