COM 0184.032 1996-1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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'RECEIVED BUDGET MESSAGE pd„ z,~ 9BY- County Council~li. %f~ ~ - Crime and the fear of crime continues to be an important issue and challenge to this county, state, and nation. In the Attorney General's 1994 Crime Victimization survey, 51.5% of those surveyed were afraid to walk alone at night near their home, and 62% have not done things they like to do because of a concern about crime.i Victims tend to be younger, or the vulnerable. We have all heard stories about the older person who has been a victim of a burglary or theft and who is now afraid to go out of their house; the teenager who is afraid to go to school because of the violence and drug use there. While the overall crime rate is going down locally and nationally, a closer look at those rates reflect some alarming trends. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention reports that between 1985-1994, homicides committed by juveniles jumped 144%, aggravated assaults went up to 134% and weapons offenses climbed to 156%. Almost every category tracked by the FBI went up.2 This is a statistical picture of America's new super predator -the young violent male (14-29 years of age) offender. So while the overall rate of crime is decreasing, the crime rate among this younger segment is increasing. I expect that while we may see a temporary decline in the overall rate, we will see an increase in crimes committed by young violent males. The demographics of this population show that by the year 2005, there will be 20,818,000 males between the ages of 14-24 as compared to the 18,516,000 in 1995.3 In Hawaii County, we have our own examples of the young predators who have extensive juvenile records; are involved in drugs; belong to a gang or have adult criminal models; and commit serious crimes. Crimes committed at the Kona and Hilo airport are examples. We are starting to see our juvenile filings climb. In a book by Bennett, Dilulio and Walters, they describe the root cause for the wave of violence as moral depravity or moral poverty. "...moral poverty is the poverty of being without loving, capable, responsible adults who teach you right from wrong; the poverty of being without parents and other authorities who habituate you to feel joy at other's joys, pain at other's pain, satisfaction when you do right, remorse when you do wrong; the poverty of growing up in the virtual absence of people who teach morality by their own everyday example and who insist that you follow suit. In the extreme, moral poverty is the poverty of growing up severely abused and neglected at the hands of deviant, delinquent or criminal adults." Bodv Count by William Bennett, John Dilulio and John Walters.