People Cheer “Arrests” but there is a lot more to know before we know anything

HPD: 74 arrests made in Chinatown in last 6 weeks under crime prevention program https://www.newsbreakapp.com/n/0bqKw7wQ?&share_destination_id=MTU5ODM3MDA2LTE2MzE0Nzg3MDcwMzI=&s=a99&pd=0AoeuE7z&hl=en_US

Downtown Honolulu’s Chinatown is in the midst of a much touted police “crackdown”

I have told you that downtown Honolulu has been one of Oahu’s epicenters for drugs. Years ago I walked those streets in the sincere belief that I could partake in the offtrack lifestyle and no one would be the wiser bc of my good taste in clothes. I am not bragging when I say I was the best looking homeless crack addict on the block in my youth. Please, hold your applause. I have shared with you that I enjoyed my experiences bc the drugs and the risks I took to obtain them were all consuming. Self pity was in the back burner and my orphan status did not cause me to stand out from my peers bc most were alienated from their families. None of this psychological relief would have been possible without a centralized location for all of the elements of this lifestyle. This is the reasoning of an adolescent. The community does not want to be sacrificed at the altar of my self worship. It really is for the best to get the crime off the street and force people to do what normal people do–pursue their behavioral deviations from the accepted norm behind closed doors. No one gets influenced to follow the examples of people smoking crack, ice, or heroin in public. People were once deeply disturbed by such displays, which were absolutely commonplace during 1990’s. These people can relax and focus on something other than cleaning up the streets–like promoting small business.

I understand why people Cheer Arrests, but my insider’s knowledge of “the system” causes me to worry

Yes, let us get the crime off the street. But we actually do need to consider where it goes. I have heard,”they don’t care where you go as long as you get up out of here.” People discover they need to see the follow through for the much touted arrests. According to the linked article lots of homeless have been arrested. Those are likely to be petty misdemeanor arrests meant to convey that the homeless will have a rough go of it in this hostile place. Loitering, littering, jaywalking, camping, lying on the sidewalk. When Rudolph Giuliani was mayor of NYC these nuisance crimes were aggressively pursued with the (reported) results that the little crimes were committed by big time criminals. Felons were rooted out, the community was safer. Yadda yadda yadda…

I do not know if that was true in NYC but in Honolulu nuisance crimes are committed by people who are more nuisances than criminals. They get arrested and released in the morning in a repetitious cycle that churns a lot of paperwork. It is a good thing there is a lot of paperwork to give the Honolulu Police Department work to justify all the COVID relief money they paid their members as excessive overtime. Some would call it fraud. Is this “crackdown” as nothing but a chance to say to the community:

Don’t think HPD is just lavishly spending relief money on all terrain vehicles officers ride on the sidewalk during their unjustifiable overtime. HPD is lavishly spending and making arrests that tax payers find comforting.

The author’s cynical interpretation of the big crime fighting initiative

Maybe I am wrong about the need for real change

As long as the public thinks it’s safety has improved that’s what really matters. No matter what anyone does, the interpretation of the actions is how people experience them. Did you read the linked article about how River Street is totally clear. It was home to mainly alcoholics for over 20 years. The street really looks different, that is true. Did the homeless go “away?” Yes, if “away” means a block toward Diamond Head. Now they bed down by Maunakea Marketplace, on Hotel Street. The only traffic on Hotel Street is the bus. The drivers who see River Street will be impressed by the enormous change –in that spot.

I almost forgot! I did notice a change in the homeless population due to this police initiative. There are more people wearng a jumpsuit made out of sturdy paper-like material. If a person is arrested without appropriate attire the officers in cellblock give him or her a paper suit. People with nothing stay in the paper suit days after their arrest because their belongings are often disposed of by the arresting officers. Yes, there is a new fashion by Maunakea Market. That’s what arrests profit society members who ask no questions about the criminal justice system if it does not touch them personally.