A column from the Seattle PI this week faults public officials for failing to respond to that city’s growing gang problem. The same questions needs to be asked here in Hawaii, where city and state officials have not openly addressed the obvious signs of spreading gang problems. But some in the news media also seem to have some difficulty either connecting the dots or using the “G” word (as in “gang”).
Take this week’s home invasion and shooting in Aliamanu. The Advertiser story on the incident did not include any reference to gangs. The G Word didn’t come up. The Star-Bulletin story by Alex Da Silva reported that police are aware of rival gangs in the area but were not yet ready to describe this specific shooting as stemming from gang activity. KITV also led with the possible gang links.
Interesting thing is that the shooting reveals the ongoing gang activity that just isn’t being publicly addressed and dealt with.
From the KITV report: “Area residents said the two are rival gangs that fight at Aliamanu Park just a few blocks away.”
With the exception of Da Silva’s two-part series late last year on the rising gang problem (part 1 and part 2), there hasn’t been much said about the issue. Instead, you’ve got to read between the lines in stories of public brawls between groups of men, beatings with bats, drive-by shootings, etc.
Like the Seattle columnist, is it time to ask Mayor Mufi and other public officials to address the gang issue head on?
Speaking of Seattle, the city recently followed the lead of Los Angeles in approving a hefty fee for use of plastic grocery bags. Seattle’s City Council approved a 20 cents per bag fee that consumers will have to pay.
This is a voluntary fee,” said Council President Richard Conlin, who worked with Nickels on the proposal. “No one has to pay it. You only have to pay it if you choose not to use reusable bags.”
Seattle also approved a ban on styrofoam and plastic containers and utensils beginning in two years. “Food-service businesses will have to start using biodegradable or recyclable containers and utensils,” according to the story.
Our legislature got close this year and then backed away from taking strong action because of resistance from retail industry lobbyists. But if we can’t lead, maybe we can at least follow.
On another topic altogehter, I was quite interested to see this recent discussion of state level anti-poverty initiatives in a number of other states.
Frank DeLima has come through again to support the unions at the Honolulu Advertiser. Check out his YouTube performance of, “What, Honolulu Advertiser, you going leave me now?” While you’re at it, go back to DeLima’s original from 1999.
I removed a comment yesterday because it seemed to me to be an unnecessarily nasty attack on someone. After removing it, I notified the sender that I felt it was unnecessary. I think that I’ve only exerted this kind of editorial judgment one previous time. So just a gentle reminder re comments: Please maintain some semblance of civility. Being sharp and witty can too easily spill over into being just plain nasty. I’d appreciate it if we can all try to avoid the latter.
And for your share of a quiet morning in Kaaawa, click here or, if that doesn’t work, here.
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i missed the nasty comment!
sorry.
It’s obvious, especially with the most recent shooting, that these crimes are gang related. Even the youngest and naivest reporters (is there any other kind now a days?) must know this. Do you think the refusal to use the word “gang” is caused by a fear of harming tourism or just fear of being sued?
On the blog nastiness — I appreciate removal of the nasty comments. This nastiness is an interesting social phenomena. Anonymity is the gateway. We wouldn’t see this if people were required to use their real names as they do with letters to the editor. But, underlying the anonymity and ease factors, there must be a lot of real anger that people are repressing until they blog. A bit scary, what?
Maui County is moving forward with efforts to address the proliferation of plastic shopping bags. See:
http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/506971.html
two things:
I lived in Europe in the late eighties and early nineties. Any time you went shopping you had to pay for the bag. So eveyone carried their own shopping bags. It was normal. The city I lived in also held a festival where no paper/plastic plates/utensils could be used.
I am not questioning the criminal element of the recent shooting. What worries me is that there is a tendancy to refer to teens who are hanging out as gangs with criminal intent. As this is done more frequently if the teens are of darker skin tone and live in poorer neighborhoods, i find it very troubling. I ask that people take the time to make the distinction between groups of men with criminal intent and teenagers who are “hanging out”.
In regard to the gang issue in Honolulu, there are a couple of observations I have made from my experience in dealing with gang-related events in Honolulu.
First, the police are very careful to tell whomever is asking to not “make it into a bigger deal” by publicizing. The reason being, according to HPD, is if you report it (as a reporter), you are in essence promoting it, and therefore takes the issue out of context for the public. I can see their point, but it is true – gang related events are occurring at a higher level now than it has in the past few years.
A second observance is – if we as a community want to get rid of gangs in our neighborhood, than the community needs to band together and start making noise on their own. Residents in and around Honolulu at times have done this, with the result being better coverage by HPD of incident areas, and more interaction with “gang members” by HPD, to at least quell violence. Unfortunately, it takes a village to make things happen positively from gang-related events that affect whole communities.
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