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Kaupō, on Maui's southeast coast, is suffering a crime wave and has been unable to get the help it needs.
Problems include, but are not limited to, trespassing, illegal hunting (shooting guns after dark), illegal burning (bonfires and trash fires), illegal dumping (appliances and vehicles strewn along Pi'ilani Highway), and even, though far less common, carjacking and even murder.
A recent murder was not even reported in the press, as far as we know.
Our calls to 911 are routed to the Big Island. Our calls to Hana Police and Hana Fire Department are ignored. They are short-handed, and after all, it will take an hour for an officer to reach us, and by then the fire or gunfire will have died down.
Once, when we called the Fire Department on an illegal fire, we were told to "go put it out." In other words, we were advised to trespass and confront a gun-owning neighbor.
I have been delegated by Kaupō Community Association to ask you to please send a reporter to interview members of the community to get the full story. The best way to do this would be to show up at our Work Day at the renovated school house, 10 a.m. to noon on the first Saturday of every month.
Tama Starr
Kaupō