The Bottom Line:
Violent crime on O‘ahu is currently: mostly stable.
Each month, we analyze the crime data provided publicly by the Honolulu Police Department to understand crime trends and put the headlines in perspective. Currently, for each category of violent crime, we compare the number of crimes last month to the month before and the same month in the previous year.
Aggravated Assault
There were 89 aggravated assaults in August. This is down slightly from August 2023 when there were 93. It is also down from the number in July when there were 92.
Is there reason to panic or celebrate? No, these numbers are within the expected variation.
Murder and Non-Negligent Homicide
There were 5 homicides in August. This is up slightly from August 2023 when there were 4. It is also up slightly from the number in July when there were 0.
Is there reason to panic or celebrate? No, these numbers are within the expected variation.
Robbery
There were 60 robberies in August. This is up from August 2023 when there were 41. It is also up from the number in July when there were 44.
Is there reason to panic or celebrate? There may be reason to be a little nervous, but not panic yet: this month’s numbers are outside of the expected variation. We will need to stay tuned to see how this month goes and whether we get back on track next month. Notably, our year-to-date figures are below where we were last year at this time.
Sexual Assault
There were 72 sexual assaults in August. This is up somewhat from August 2023 when there were 62. It is also up somewhat from the number in July when there were 64.
Is there reason to panic or celebrate? No, these numbers are within the expected variation.
Next Steps
We are just getting started with our data analysis. In the future, we hope to construct graphs to show what the trends look over time like instead of providing snapshots. We also hope to pull back the curtain and discuss how we calculate the expected variation. For now, we hope our analysis provides some context.
Final Assessment
This month’s assessment is that violent crime on O‘ahu is mostly stable.
The Hawaii Crime Lab 