There have been at least three burglaries in Kaaawa this week, and many in the community are already pinning the blame on the young man who was caught burglarizing our house in 2009.
• A beach house rented by a vacationing Florida family was broken into on Monday, and a number of things stolen, including two laptop computers, camera equipment, etc.
• Jewelry, including family heirlooms, were taken from a house directly across the street from where the suspect is now living with his family. This may have also happened on Monday. We were told the kid confessed to the theft, and efforts are being made to recover the stolen items, which changed hands several times almost immediately after the break-in.
• A house on Kaaawa Park Lane was broken into mid-day on Friday. The thief was still in the house when one of the owners arrived home. Police were called and arrived with guns drawn, but the burglar was able to escape. I don’t know whether he was seen or not.
It’s unclear whether the wheels of justice will ever catch up with this kid. In the meantime, the neighborhood is in turmoil trying to cope with the uncertainty and anxiety caused by what feel like a series of inside jobs.
It is possible, of course, that these break-ins aren’t related. But no one in the neighborhood, including the kid’s family, believes that.
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In some areas on Oahu in a case like this some of the residents would have a little talk with the suspected person to let them know how the community feels about what is going on. Quite often that will stop it.
And in some places somebody will promptly beat the living shit out of him and send him on his way with the warning that his neighborhood privileges are permanently revoked.
Folks, Ian explained earlier that he was a known responsible in the past; he left or was driven away at that time and has now returned…
Our society doesn’t know how to handle people like this any more, so sad. He inevitably is an addict and probably has his immediate family intimidated into enabling his behavior.
Ironically if someone talks to him, he will probably come off as a confident “the world is my oyster” kind of person, a classic con man. All harboring poor self esteem and resentment… And then there is the addiction, these modern drugs are really bad.
My opinions only, I am not a trained expert in anything.
Invest in a good security alarm. All of our windows and exterior doors are wired and so far, no burglaries.
Problem is that there are few police officers in the patrol area that includes Kaaawa. It would typically take a relatively long time for police to respond to a home alarm going off. So couple the high cost of a good alarm system with the probability of it deterring a break-in, and we decided it didn’t really make sense.
That’s like defending the world from Al-Qaeda attacks by just covering all cities and towns with defense shields. It amounts to hiding from real problems instead of dealing with them. The long-term loss of the quality of life is way higher than the short-term cost of security systems.
That said, I also agree with Ian. Security system break-ins do happen, especially if the police are not nearby.
My suggestion? Per Consumer Reports, go to the National Crime Prevention Council’s Web site. Create an e-mail list or a free wiki system at http://www.pbwiki.com or http://www.mindtouch.com. You can also use these tools to coordinate agendas for meetings with police groups and archive meeting minutes.
Note: the e-mail list would help create a free neighborhood watch program.
Ian, our community had two drug houses that were bringing in criminals. Grandsons of the original owners, people we knew and had grown up in our community, were dealing drugs with and without the knowledge of their families.
It was so bad in our community that children came home from school to find burglars in their house. People attending funerals came home to a ransacked house. People gardening in their back yards and walking their dogs were burglarized. The only way this can happen is that the criminal (s) is living there, watching for opportunities that sometimes need only minutes.
You have to get rid of the boy, and the best way to do that is to keep watch over him. Get a list of his bikes, cars, etc. and watch where he goes. Write down the people’s license plates that he sees (they are probably buying what he steals or providing him with drugs). Share these with your neighbors so they know what to watch for. Call the police when ANYTHING suspicious happens. Report it to your Neighborhood Board and the police that attend there. Put pressure on his family to report his criminal activity that they know of.
I know there are those that would say that all this violates the boy’s rights. But what about the community’s rights? Our high crime rate was gone the minute one drug dealer was caught because we put pressure on the police to get a search warrant and his house was put up for sale, and the grandmother of the other kicked him out of her house because of community pressure.
Neighborhood watch isn’t just a sign, it’s a way of life. It’s your community Ian. Be vigilant in protecting it.
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Covert cameras, along with video recorders, monitoring the comings and goings in your neighborhood would help implement Jeannine’s suggestions.