FIGHTING CRIME

Fighting the use and sale of "ice" and the possession of illegal guns are
two items at the top of the list for Hawai'i's Federal Prosecutor Ed Kubo.

He is promising to move on "removing habitual offenders off our streets."

Kubo pointed to the arrest of Michael Anglin in Honolulu who allegedly had
an illegal handgun, as well as a considerable amount of illegal drugs in his
possession. Anglin has 43 prior arrests and had pulled out a handgun and
cocked the trigger in front of some youths at a drive-in restaurant.

The suspect is being prosecuted under the federal Project Safe Neighborhoods
Hawai'i Program, a presidential plan to cut down on gun violence.

Kubo spoke out yesterday just over a week after a Honolulu police officer
was shot do death in a shooting at an ice cream parlor.

Speaking about Anglin's arrest, Kuho said:

"When you're dealing with a person who has been arrested 43 times, even if
it results in misdemeanor convictions, one has to wonder from a common sense
standpoint, what's going on here?

"Something is wrong with the state system and we have to start stepping up
to the plate in order to cover and protect not only the law enforcement
community, but the citizens as best as we can from all angles."

In his speech the federal prosecutor touched upon the problem of
overcrowding in state prisons, and the revolving door many criminals swing
through as they move out then back in prison following another arrest.

Kubo has used the federal Weed and Seed program to clean up Chinatown and
other high-crime districts in Honolulu.

Unfortunately, with the rising crime problem on Kaua'i, Kubo's plans are now
needed to clean up areas of Kaua'i where drugs are dealt, and places where
it is possible that ice is manufactured.

A reflection of this problem is a mailer sent this week to homes in the
Kapa'a area from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The flier warned that
"unsecured mailboxes invite theft." That means residents of homes that place
mail in the traditional metal rural mailboxes for the mail carrier to pick
up are at risk of having their mail stolen.

Stolen mail is now seen laying along rural roads. One man from the Kapa'a
area called The Garden Island this week with a story of having his mail
stolen and later receiving bills from credit card companies for credit
charges made by thieves who stole his mail.

Secure, locked metal mailboxes are starting to appear in our neighborhoods,
symbols of a so far losing battle to drugs and the users who will do just
about anything to pay for their habit.

Will the solution be a federal crack down in neighborhoods suspected of
being home to illicit drug users and possibly ice manufacturers?

We may soon see if it will.