COM 0091.030 2016-2018 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Lisa M. King Registered Voter PO Box 764 Volcano, Hawaii 96785 985-7089 (land line) To the Mayor and the Members of City Council, This is testimony to support the hiring of significantly more police officers for the Puna District. I live in Mauna Loa Estates in Volcano located in upper Puna. I am the Neighborhood Watch person for my subdivision.Today I chased a stolen car out of our subdivision (FRG 212) while on my cell phone calling 911 to alert the police to try and catch the two suspects, but the response time from Keaau is so long, it is hard for the police to catch a car thief when someone from the Volcano area calls it in. Also today, I was forwarded a security video which showed a child being directed by an adult to scout out the front door and lanai area to a vacation rental that has already been broken into 3 times in the last 3 years.The last time,only April 19,and the video clearly showed that it is being checked out again. The nice couple who owns this rental is now considering selling it because they cannot in good faith keep renting it out while worrying if their guests vacation will be ruined by a theft. Today, I also had an informant tell me that the man who lives next to me-who is a suspected car thief, house thief and meth user—that this man stole a small truck in Ocean View two nights ago and hid it overnight next door.Then last night, he returned to Ocean View and was chased by the police.The police surrounded him at the 7-11 in Ocean View and he the dumped the car and apparently ran into some bushes and the police did not pursue him further; and, at 1:20am this morning he returned next door, home,after calling a friend to pick him up after the police left with the stolen vehicle. This sort of thing happens every day in Volcano now. The Volcano area is also experiencing a significant increase in the number of area car thefts and home break-ins.This is happening to friends, colleagues and neighbors.And these thieves don't just steal your TV or your computer—they empty your house.This must stop. We have on average only 4 police officers assigned to the Keaau to Volcano part of Puna.The response time from Keaau,depending if they are already busy or not,can be anywhere from 30 minutes to more than 2 hours...sometime the next day if it is a break-in and they are busy... We need a stronger police force with more officers, more administrative staff to assist them and more equipment that suits their needs.And,we need to find a way to fund it this fiscal year.We also need a manned substation somewhere above the Keaau station to reduce response times to something reasonable. Upper Puna needs more police officers, PLEASE. It is to the point now where many people no longer feel comfortable leaving their homes to go into town to shop because they are worried that they may return and find that their home has been broken into while they were gone. PLEASE give us the police officers we need to curb crime in the Puna District. Thank you! Lisa Marie King