HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0521.015 2002-2004 Aloha and mahalo for giving me this opportunity to appear before you to present a
problem in our community that needs your immediate attention. My name is Meg Childs
and I have been asked to represent our South Kona Community and our Neighborhood
Watch. Out of respect for the members of the County Council and the general public
who may have other pressing issues to discuss with you, I will be speaking in behalf of
the many members of our community that you see before you.
At this time I would like to ask that those of you who have attended this meeting to
support a new fully-staffed police station for the South Kona police district to please
stand and be recognized.
In October of 1988 the main police station of Kona was moved from Captain Cook to
Kealakehe. At that time, the population of Kona had shifted and the majority of our
citizens resided in North Kona. Many of us who you see before you did not come out to
protest this move because it was the right and responsible thing to do. We recognized
the fact that our county had a limited amount of resources and that it was imperative
that these resources be placed where it would best serve the whole community.
We are all here tonight because the South Kona police district has several major
problems that you can help us solve. We have serious traffic problems, drug problems,
and crime. Our police district covers all of South Kona and parts of North Kona. It
starts from mile marker 116 next to the Old Tanaka Quarry Road in Mauka Keauhou
and extends to the 83 mile marker in Manuka. According to the 2000 census we have
10,576 citizens living in an area that exceeds 335 square miles (South Kona alone).
This does not include the 17,000 visitors per day on our roads. There are only 12 police
officers assigned to our police district making it the most unprotected district in our
county. Our 814 citizens per officer is the highest citizen to officer ratio in our county.
Due to the limited amount of officers, 2 per shift, and size of our district it is not
uncommon for citizens to wait in excess of an hour for officers to respond to a call for
service. Many times calls are prioritized based on the severity of the call.
The 7th District of which many of us are a part contributes the third largest amount of
property tax to the county coffers and yet, we are the only district outside of Puna and
South Hilo that does not have afully-staffed police station. Our population is larger than
North Hilo and Hamakua combined, or North Kohala or Kau and all of these districts
have afully-staffed police station.
We ask that you consider the needs of our community and request that you distribute
our limited resources fairly. We now ask that you do the right and responsible thing for
all of us.
No matter which way you look at it -population count, property tax contribution, district
size or current police allocation per citizen - we deserve afully-staffed police station. To
deny us this would be an act of neglect or negligence on the county's part. By all of us
being here tonight we are actually serving you notice that we will no longer sit idly by
and watch our community go without the proper protection we rightfully deserve.
Thank you once again for allowing us this time to present you with the problems of our
community.
RECtIV'Cr
By - Comm. N0.
~i~; <i Ref. To: Pr
Oaro
~,,,,~y GauncJl ~ Ref. Date
square miles population allocated officers citizens per officers
Puna 683 31,335 48 653
South Hilo 635 47,386 82 578
North Hilo 144 1,720 12 143
Hamakua 223 6,108 18 339
North Kohala 123 6,038 15 403
South Kohala 688 13,131 33 398
North Kona 489 ' 26,556 57 466
South Kona 335 ' 10,576 13 814
Kau 700 5,827 18 324
Police District