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Waikiki has lost a layer of security that for the last six months has increased safety for businesses, residents and visitors.

On Nov. 30, the city ended a contract with Matt Levi Corp. for private security guards to help the short-staffed Honolulu Police Department protect people from crime in what many consider the most dangerous section of Waikiki Beach — Kuhio Beach Park.

HPD currently is understaffed by 413 officers or 20% of its full force.        

“It’s a manpower issue. We have a lot of complaints coming from that end of the beach,” said Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi in June when Levi’s private security patrols began.

Blangiardi used $450,000 from federal post-pandemic recovery funds in a to pay Levi for four guards to patrol Waikiki from 8 p.m. until 4 a.m. seven nights a week.

But the city says it is unable continue the six-month pilot project because its remaining post-pandemic federal funds are committed to other city programs.

Levi’s unarmed private guards provided a constant presence in the Kuhio Beach area. Unlike regular police they can saturate a finite area without ever getting called away to emergencies or other duties.

All of the Levi personnel are currently certified Honolulu police officers from elite HPD units hired to work for him during their off-duty hours. As police officers themselves, they worked comfortably in Waikiki alongside HPD patrol officers.

They got to know the troublemakers in Waikiki, often talking them out of bad behavior before it escalated into violence.

“Generally, having visible security personnel in public settings is positive and can make people feel safer and help to deter criminal activity,’ said HPD spokeswoman Michelle Yu in an email.

More and more private security teams are being in cities across the country to provide speedier responses than the citizens normally get from beleaguered, short staffed police departments. 

Here in Hawaii, the same thing is going on. More local businesses are hiring an extra layer of security on top of their in-house guards to patrol the dangerous areas of downtown Honolulu.

Peter Ho, president of the Bank of Hawaii hired ML Security guards to protect the Financial Plaza of the Pacific after security guard by a suspect who bashed him in the head with a metal water bottle. 

Soon after the bank hired Levi’s guards, real estate investor Duane Kurisu joined forces with the Fort Street Mall Business Improvement District Association to use Levi’s services to protect the mall and Kurisu’s many Fort Street-area properties. 

“We wanted to make our mall safe and downtown safe to attract more customers and businesses. Matt Levi’s guards have a good way of approaching people and talking them out of anything bad they might be considering. The guards give them a way out,” said Victor Lim.

Lim is the owner of five McDonald’s franchises on Oahu and chairman of the Fort Street Mall Business Improvement District Association.

Levi’s guards now work at Fort Street Mall every day from 6 a.m until 6 p.m.

In June, they disarmed a 25-year-old man who was and held him until police arrived. 

And they intervened Nov. 14, to arrest him for allegedly beating a 70-year-old security guard with the guard’s own walking stick. 

American Savings Bank hired Levi’s teams in 2019 before it moved into its new headquarters in Chinatown fronting Aala Park.

“Aala Park had a bad reputation as being dangerous. We wanted to make sure not only the bank and also the surrounding neighborhood were safe,” said Beth Whitehead, executive vice president and chief administrative officer of American Savings Bank.

She says Levi’s patrols have been a constant, predictable presence around the perimeter of the bank and the neighborhood, transforming Aala Park into a more welcoming place for the 12,000 residents in the immediate area — who are now returning to the park at all hours of the day and evening to enjoy activities with their children and elderly parents.

“We feel it is one of the best things we have done for the community,” Whitehead said

Now that Levi’s guards are gone, the city says it plans to create its own new security model in Waikiki working in partnership with the nonprofit Waikiki Business Improvement District Association.

“We believe the next stage of our violence interrupter program is to try and partner with WBIDA to provide both violence interrupters along with outreach workers who can provide counseling, life experience, career opportunities, social services, and support for those on the streets involved in criminal activity,“ said Honolulu’s managing director Mike Formby in an email.

Formby says it is not enough to just kick the criminals out of Waikiki: “We also believe these individuals will return if we do not develop a support system to move them out of criminal conduct and into another path.”

But it is unclear exactly how that enterprise would work and how it would be funded and what additional level of security it would provide for Waikiki. 

“We have yet to land upon that model,” said Formby.

WBIDA executive director Trevor Abarzua says “ML Security did a phenomenal job but it came at a high cost. We want to have the same level of security but also to use funds to reach out with social service workers to help the vulnerable people in Waikiki who are down on their luck.”

ABC Stores CEO and President Paul Kosasa said Matt Leviʻs guards “cleaned up the area quickly and maintained security.”

“But we may not need such an intense level of security as in the past. It has been quite expensive so we are researching other security companies that could help the city at less cost,” he said.

Kosasaʻs family business has six convenience stores in the surrounding Waikiki area which he says also have their own security guards. He is board chairman of WBIDA.

Honolulu Police Department arrest statistics for Waikiki from the last two years including burglary and theft as well as violent crimes such as aggravated assault, murder, robbery, and forcible sex offenses.

But the unanswered question now is how will the city keep crime in decline in the state’s key tourist area when the force is still short of patrol officers, Levi’s guards are gone and there is no detailed plan yet to fill the gap?

“Waikiki is definitely better now but we are still not out of the woods,” said Kosasa.