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Old 04-27-2022, 01:30 PM
 
13 posts, read 14,838 times
Reputation: 10

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Hi all, new to this forum and considering a move from Oahu to Honoka'a or possibly Ahualoa. I like Waimea but its a bit out of my price range.

I am looking up stats and talking with the local police, but I wanted to get a resident's perspective if possible on just how safe Honoka'a and Ahualoa are.

Property crime, violent crime, and a general sense of how safe the various subsections of the community are.

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Aloha!
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Old 04-27-2022, 02:37 PM
 
Location: Hawaii Island
48 posts, read 46,325 times
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Ahualoa resident here for 14 years, after living in Kailua (Oahu) for a long time. This is a very safe community with a little bit of property crime (theft of stuff out of cars, ATVs being stolen). Honoka'a has a bit more, what I think is related to drugs, maybe a Honoka'a resident can speak more to that. You definitely get a lot more for your money here, and are at most half an hour from Waimea, halfway between Hilo and Kona.
The best way I can summarize it is that I haven't locked my house in at least ten years. I do have a property gate which is locked, and dogs, but still I never would have left my house in Kailua, and had more theft problems there than I've had here.
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Old 04-27-2022, 02:38 PM
 
Location: Southernmost tip of the southernmost island in the southernmost state
982 posts, read 1,141,717 times
Reputation: 1652
Quote:
Originally Posted by zaiteku View Post
Hi all, new to this forum and considering a move from Oahu to Honoka'a or possibly Ahualoa. I like Waimea but its a bit out of my price range.

I am looking up stats and talking with the local police, but I wanted to get a resident's perspective if possible on just how safe Honoka'a and Ahualoa are.

Property crime, violent crime, and a general sense of how safe the various subsections of the community are.

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Aloha!
I don't see much in the news or social media that indicates Honoka'a has any issues with crime particular to it.
In general, the more rural you get, the more likely you'll have increases in opportunistic crime.
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Old 04-28-2022, 06:08 PM
 
13 posts, read 14,838 times
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OK thanks, guys. I also have a call with the Hamakua Police. Maybe they can share a little more info with me. Trying to talk to a few residents I've met their recently as well. There are the stats in the paper but more interested in the perspective too.
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Old 04-29-2022, 10:19 PM
 
Location: Southernmost tip of the southernmost island in the southernmost state
982 posts, read 1,141,717 times
Reputation: 1652
Quote:
Originally Posted by zaiteku View Post
OK thanks, guys. I also have a call with the Hamakua Police. Maybe they can share a little more info with me. Trying to talk to a few residents I've met their recently as well. There are the stats in the paper but more interested in the perspective too.
Go to Facebook, look for and join some of the Honoka'a groups, probably a better place to ask the question.
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Old 04-29-2022, 11:50 PM
 
Location: Moku Nui, Hawaii
11,048 posts, read 23,873,855 times
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Facebook has Honokaa groups? Who knew?

As far as crime here, well, there's not a lot of it although there's a bit here and there. A month or three back, some drunk from Waimea was throwing rocks at some of the windows on main street. Broke quite a few of them, too. How rude! They should throw rocks in their own neighborhood. That's not common, though.

Officer John Kari is our town policeman. We get a different one every few years, but he's still the current one, I think. There's more than one, actually, but he's the one who goes walkabout and chats with folks.

It's still a small enough town that most folks know each other by sight if not by name. Strangers are noted and watched somewhat, although not accosted.

The hardest part of moving to Honokaa is finding somewhere to live.

FWIW, (and IMHO) Waimea is too wet and cold with too much fog. At least, on the wet side. The dry side doesn't have the same issues, of course. Honokaa is a more walkable town, too, there's generally folks walking up and down the shops on mainstreet. Sometimes they're shopping, sometimes just visiting with friends. Waimea doesn't have the same sort of layout. Honokaa has a better rodeo than Waimea, too! Ha! The Parker Ranch rodeo has that race track around their arena so there's a reason why it's further away from the stands.
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Old 04-30-2022, 01:17 PM
 
Location: Puna, Hawaii
4,370 posts, read 4,790,158 times
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Big Island crime is usually property theft. I remember reading that somebody stole a bunch T-posts near Honokaa by pulling them out of the ground. This was obviously somebody who needed T-posts and didn't want to steal something else to sell to get money to buy T-posts, so they "harvested" them. Likewise I've read of somebody's water pump getting stolen but nothing else in the house was taken. I don't know if there is a proper term for these crimes but I call them subsistence theft. It's a step above the type of people that will steal fruit off of trees.

There is violent crime on the BI but more often than not it's drug related and within the drug community. Burglaries are also drug related, people looking to steal drugs or stuff they can trade or sell for drugs.

There is also crime that is simply tolerated or overlooked, like gambling and **** fighting.
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Old 05-01-2022, 07:32 PM
 
13 posts, read 14,838 times
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Thank you Hotzcatz and Terracore for your additions.

I have also had a nice long convo with John Kari at the Hamakua Police station. He was super helpful and gave me a lot of good info to chew on, but it is still nice to get a resident's perspective!
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Old 05-01-2022, 08:08 PM
 
Location: Maui No Ka 'Oi
1,539 posts, read 1,544,721 times
Reputation: 2366
Quote:
Originally Posted by terracore View Post
Big Island crime is usually property theft. I remember reading that somebody stole a bunch T-posts near Honokaa by pulling them out of the ground. This was obviously somebody who needed T-posts and didn't want to steal something else to sell to get money to buy T-posts, so they "harvested" them. Likewise I've read of somebody's water pump getting stolen but nothing else in the house was taken. I don't know if there is a proper term for these crimes but I call them subsistence theft. It's a step above the type of people that will steal fruit off of trees.

There is violent crime on the BI but more often than not it's drug related and within the drug community. Burglaries are also drug related, people looking to steal drugs or stuff they can trade or sell for drugs.

There is also crime that is simply tolerated or overlooked, like gambling and **** fighting.
I lived in Puna for a bit while taking classes at UH Hilo. Someone dismantled and stole our water pump! The next water pump we put a padlock and mounted to a steel ring cemented into the floor.
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Old 05-03-2022, 08:06 PM
 
Location: Puna, Hawaii
4,370 posts, read 4,790,158 times
Reputation: 7895
Quote:
Originally Posted by trinity1111 View Post
I lived in Puna for a bit while taking classes at UH Hilo. Someone dismantled and stole our water pump! The next water pump we put a padlock and mounted to a steel ring cemented into the floor.
I heard about a family in Nanawale who left town for a couple of days and came back to find their kitchen cabinets stolen off their walls.
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