Maui Crime Rate Leads State, Arson Skyrockets by 86.4%

The table lists the actual numbers of reported offenses, excluding traffic, in Maui County from 2006 to 2015. Uniform Crime Report, Crime in Hawaiʻi, 2015.

Maui County reported the highest statewide rates for total, violent, and property Index Crimes, as well as rape, aggravated assault, and larceny-theft, according to a the State of Hawaiʻi’s Annual Uniform Crime Report for 2015.

Maui County’s crime rates increased for six of the ten Index Crime offenses, with a notable increase of 86.4% for arson.

In the other categories, rape was up 5.6%; robbery was up 41.3%; aggravated assault was up 3.0%; larceny-theft was up 5.5%; and motor vehicle theft increased 2.1%.

The total Index Crime rate in Maui County increased 2.3% in 2015, with violent crime up 7.6%, and property crime up 1.8%.

The total Index Crime rate in Maui County increased 2.3% in 2015; the violent crime rate rose 7.6%, and the property crime rate edged up 1.8%. Maui County’s crime rates increased for six of the ten Index Crime offenses, with a notable increase of 86.4% for arson. Maui County reported the highest statewide rates for total, violent, and property Index Crimes, as well as rape, aggravated assault, and larceny-theft. PC: Wendy Osher

According to the report, in 2015, 11.5% of Hawaiʻi’s population resided in Maui County, where 13.4% of the State’s total Index Crimes, 15.8% of the violent crimes, and 13.2% of the property crimes were reported.

From 2014 to 2015, the total number of Index Crimes reported in Maui County increased 4%, violent crimes increased 9.4%, and property crimes increased 3.5%.

Attorney General Doug Chin released the report for calendar year 2015, saying there were a total of 48,919 Index Crimes* were reported in the State of Hawaiʻi, yielding a rate of 3,417 offenses per 100,000 resident population. Hawaiʻi’s total Index Crime rate in 2015 was 0.3% below the rate reported in 2014, and 24.7% below the rate reported a decade earlier (2006).

There were 3,530 violent Index Crimes reported statewide in 2015, yielding a rate of 246.6 offenses per 100,000 residents. Hawaiʻi’s violent Index Crime rate in 2015 was 2.3% more than the rate reported in 2014, and 12.9% below the rate reported in 2006.

There were 45,389 property Index Crimes reported statewide in 2015, yielding a rate of 3,171 offenses per 100,000 residents. Hawaiʻi’s property Index Crime rate in 2015 was 0.5% below the rate reported in 2014, and 25.5% below the rate reported in 2006.

Uniform Crime Report, Crime in Hawaiʻi, 2015.

Other highlights of Crime in Hawaiʻi, 2015 include the following:

● The rate of reported offenses for two violent Index Crimes decreased in the State of Hawaiʻi in 2015: rape, by 1.9%; and aggravated assault, by 1.6%. The rate of reported offenses for the other two violent Index Crimes increased: murder, by 6.5%; and robbery, by 12.4%.

● Rates of reported offenses increased by 1.3% each for two property Index Crime categories: larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft. The rate of reported offenses for burglary decreased by 9.5%.

● The rate of reported offenses for arson increased by 66.1% statewide in 2015.

● Based on the proportion of arrests (plus cases closed by “exceptional means”) to reported offenses, the statewide clearance rate for total Index Crimes decreased, from 16.2% in 2014 to 15.3% in 2015.

● The number of Index Crime arrests fell by 5.0% statewide in 2015. Arrests for violent Index Crimes decreased 8.7%, and arrests for property Index Crimes decreased 3.9%.

● Adult arrests comprised 83.0% of all Index Crime arrests in 2015; juvenile arrests accounted for 17.0%. Crime in Hawaiʻi 2015 provides state and county data on the age, gender, and race/ethnicity of arrestees.

● The City & County of Honolulu’s total Index Crime rate increased 1.2% in 2015. The violent and property crime rates increased by 6.6% and 0.8%, respectively. The City & County of Honolulu’s rates for murder, rape, and burglary were the lowest in the State of Hawaiʻi, while its robbery rate was the highest.

● Hawaiʻi County’s total Index Crime rate decreased 2.8% in 2015; the property crime rate fell 2.1%, and the violent crime rate dropped 13.7%. Hawaiʻi County’s crime rates rose for four of the ten Index Crime offenses, with notable increases of 162.3% for murder and 69.4% for arson. Hawaiʻi County reported the lowest robbery and arson rates in the State of Hawaii, and the highest rates for murder, motor vehicle theft, and human trafficking–commercial sex acts.

● The total Index Crime rate in Maui County increased 2.3% in 2015; the violent crime rate rose 7.6%, and the property crime rate edged up 1.8%. Maui County’s crime rates increased for six of the ten Index Crime offenses, with a notable increase of 86.4% for arson. Maui County reported the highest statewide rates for total, violent, and property Index Crimes, as well as rape, aggravated assault, and larceny-theft.

● The total Index Crime rate in Kauaʻi County decreased 22.7% in 2015. Kauaʻi County’s violent crime rate decreased 26.3%, and the property crime rate dropped 22.4%. Kauaʻi County’s arson rate increased by 828.9% in 2015. Kauaʻi County’s rates for total Index Crime, total violent crime, total property crime, aggravated assault, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft were the lowest in the State of Hawaiʻi, while its rates for burglary and arson were the highest.

● Twenty-nine murders were reported statewide in 2015. Males comprised 72.4% of the murder victims and 75.0% of the alleged offenders. One-third (33.3%) of known relationships between murder victims and offenders in 2015 were strangers, while about one-quarter (25.9%) were immediate family members.

● Of the 2,992 murders, robberies, and aggravated assaults reported statewide in 2015, 47.1% were committed using strong-arm weapons (i.e., hands, fists, and feet); 25.0% with “other” or unknown weapons; 17.3% with knives or other edged weapons; and 10.5% with firearms.

● Over $85 million in property value was reported stolen in the State of Hawaiʻi in 2015, up 8.1% from the figure reported in 2014. Of the total value stolen in 2015, 29.5% was recovered, marking an increase from the 25.7% that was recovered in 2014.

● No police officers were killed in the line of duty in the State of Hawaiʻi during 2015, but 401 officers were assaulted, yielding a rate of 13.6 assaults per 100 officers. Crime in Hawaiʻi 2015 also provides data on the time of day, type of assignment, and the weapons used in assaults against police officers (see Appendix D).

● On Oct. 31, 2015, a total of 2,939 police officers and 826 civilians were employed by the four county police departments, denoting a 0.3% decrease in workforce from the figures reported from Oct. 31, 2014.

* Including the violent Index Crimes of murder, rape, aggravated assault, robbery, and tracked separately, human trafficking, commercial sex acts and human trafficking, involuntary servitude; the property Index Crimes of burglary, motor vehicle theft, and larceny-theft; and, tracked separately, arson.

Record Crime Rates for the *State of Hawaiʻi and Counties, 2015:

State of Hawaiʻi: Record low burglary rate

City & County of Honolulu: Record low burglary rate

Hawaiʻi County: Record high motor vehicle theft rate

Maui County: None

Kauaʻi County: Record low total Index Crime rate; Record low property crime rate; Record low burglary rate; Record low larceny-theft rate; Record low motor vehicle theft rate; Record high arson rate.

* Within jurisdiction, since the start of statewide data collection in 1975 (1980 for arson rates).

The complete Crime in Hawaiʻi, 2015 report can be found HERE.