Experts weigh juvenile crime in the state

WAIANAE, Hawaii (KHON2) — There have been nine shootings along the Waianae coast this year, four of them involving teenagers.

During a news conference on the violent crime on Friday, state, county and federal authorities and police said they need the help of Waianae residents to keep their community safe and to provide information about criminals in their area.

“There’s no such thing as snitching, (as Rep. Darius Kila said), this is your community,” said Honolulu Police Department Chief Joe Logan. “How do you get it back? The only way you get it back is you take it, and you have to take it and own it, and in order to do that you have to come forward and say ‘hey, here are the bad people, this is what they’re doing,’ and we need your help.”

However, many West Oahu residents fear reprisals from groups or gangs.

According to Chief Logan, Crimestoppers is a good resource because you can remain anonymous.

“West Oahu has historically had higher crimes, particularly higher violent crimes, at least in the last few years, so that’s concerning,” said Dr. Ashley Rubin, a professor of sociology at UH Manoa. “I agree with Crime Stoppers, I think that’s a fun, safe way to do it, you can think about how to tell people things without outing yourself.”

Experts in sociology and crime gave tips on what behavior people can look out for.

“But then, what do you tell them? What do you actually look for? First of all, if there’s someone in your community who has a gun and maybe shouldn’t have a gun, so people with a criminal record, not people who committed a crime years ago and are now living a clean life, but if it’s someone who has a recent and particularly ongoing or particularly escalating criminal history, then that’s someone you probably don’t want to give a gun to. And that might be someone who you could tell the police, ‘Hey, this person has a gun, I think he has a criminal record, I don’t think he should have a gun, that would be a really good thing to let them know,” she continued.

Officials said they are focused on finding new ways to support young people and ensure their voices are heard.

“I see kids and parents together everywhere, and what’s everybody doing? They’re looking at their phones separately,” explained Dr. Reneau Kennedy, a clinical forensic neuropsychologist. “So it goes back to the same old concept of what’s called communication, which is the parent learning what a child is interested in, and a child is interested in what a parent has to say, and we’re learning very basic values.”

Experts said young people have less self-control or understanding of their actions or consequences, partly because their brains are still developing. They said a lack of resources on the Leeward Coast, fewer youth groups and parental involvement also play a role.

“I think less media time, both for kids and parents, and more awareness of who you are and what I can teach you as you learn and grow up, is really important. That can be through an aunt, an uncle, a grandparent or a parent,” she added.

When people get bored, bad things happen, says Dr. Rubin.

“Whether that’s crime or just, you know, getting into little bits of trouble. So I think keeping people occupied, giving them a purpose, giving them things to do, whether that’s volunteering or education or sports or a safe place to play in the park,” she said.

As for long-term solutions, she said, there are a few things to keep in mind.

“Why does this community have so much crime? And one of the ways we can look at it is there are a lot of things that are associated with crime, such as unemployment, poverty, substance abuse problems and so taking steps to help, to revitalize the community, to make it more robust, such as strengthening education, strengthening job training, taking steps to help people because a lot of those things are stressors and that can lead to additional crime at any age,” Dr. Rubin added. “So, taking those steps to help people and to break this cycle of violence and inequality, and I think we need to take those long-term factors and not just think, okay, let’s send more police, okay, good strategy, but that shouldn’t be the only strategy that we use. We need to make sure that we have after-school programs, that the parks are safe places for kids to hang out, that we have programs that we give pregnant people, prenatal nutrition and nutritional counseling and things like that, all of those things that are really social policy, rather than crime policy, have a much greater impact on crime reduction, and that would be a long-term strategy, it takes years to bear fruit, but you know, if we don’t want to be having the same conversation in 20 years, those are the things that we need to do.”