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P/5 PECIA L <br /> Cou N Cit <br /> Eat_ l ►,DR.2 <br /> Murashige, Laura COUNTY CLERK Comm- q� <br /> C0�`��T1' 0r E4A' Ali <br /> From: Cristina Shark <cristinasharkrayna@yahoo.com> <br /> Sent: Wednesday, May 17, 2017 11:57 AM 21111 HAY 17 PH 12: 00 <br /> To: Council Testimony <br /> Subject: Puna Testimony for FY2017-18 Operating Budget Special County Council Meeting 5/18 <br /> (opps,full subject didn't appear;want to make sure this gets to right meeting in time: <br /> Puna Testimony for FY2017-18 Operating Budget Special County Council Meeting 5/18) <br /> POLICE & PREVENTION PLEASE! <br /> I live in Upper Puna,the Volcano area, Hawaiian Orchid Isle Estates subdivision,where car theft, home burglaries, and <br /> break-ins to vacation rentals/B&B's by an apparently expanding and quite well-organized ring of thieves is significantly <br /> on the rise. <br /> The police department covering all of upper and lower Puna receives 5339 service calls per year with only 8 patrol <br /> officers to cover an area the size of the entire island of Oahu. <br /> How can these thousands of calls for help from residents all be effectively answered with so few officers to cover such a <br /> vast area? <br /> According to the National Park Service, 1,832,660 folks visit Volcano area's Volcano National Park annually,which <br /> supports not only this HI natural treasure, but also all the surrounding Upper Puna businesses: restaurants,art galleries, <br /> gas stations, markets,vacation rentals,and B&Bs. <br /> With 59.5%of county revenues coming from our Real Property Taxes(and that tax expected to increase by$15.6 <br /> million), plus an increased Fuel Tax from 8.8 cents/gal to 19.0 cents/gallon in 2017-2018...are we residents of Upper and <br /> Lower Puna receiving our fair proportion of services from this revenue in terms of police, ambulance, infrastructure, <br /> parks, roads,etc? <br /> The answer is No. <br /> Puna is the fastest growing district in Hawaii,estimated to surpass Hilo by 2020...and we are way underserved in terms <br /> of attention to the escalating crimes just written up in a recent Tribune Herald article,with many of our 8 patrol officers, <br /> as reported by my subdivision's Community Officer at a recent Neighbor Watch meeting, completely burnt out. <br /> So yes,we do need more police officers in this area, along with a specific Volcano Area Sub-Station so that response <br /> time can be minutes rather than hours... <br /> ...but just addingpolice won't fix the,current crime problem since the police officers and prosecutor's office I've <br /> J more <br /> spoken to since the theft of my own car say Big Island jails are already overcrowded, with no place to put new <br /> criminals...other than the most violent ones. <br /> In my opinion, PREVENTION is where long-term money from the current budget needs to be spent. <br /> 1) It is much easier(and more long-lastingly effective)to build strong children than to try to later repair(or just jail) <br /> broken men, as the non-profit organization Boys To Men says: http://www.b2mhawaii.org/ <br /> 1 Chan No. <br /> (�w <br /> Ref. T®s <br /> Re4f, Dote MAY 1 8 2017 <br />