Waikiki is called crowded, wonderful, and all sorts of other adjectives. Lately, it's being called a new word by residents who live there -- dangerous. A rise of high-profile, seemingly random low-grade violence has roiled the community enough to cause them to call an association meeting decrying the problem. In fact, Oahu seems to be facing an increasing degree of crowd violence that probably does not show in FBI crime stats -- we're talking broken noses in fights outside night clubs, gang fights where no one presses charges and other public displays of violence that seem to imply something is broken in local society. I've covered this a bit before (fights on the North Shore, beatings in Honolulu) as has fellow blogger Ian Lind

I imagine some of this is caused by the growing income disparity between haves and have-nots in the islands. Some may be caused by the shortage of policemen. I also have long believed that the FBI and statewide crime stats have a strong downward bias, as Hawaii culture discourages reporting crimes and that in tight knit communities the police might be related to or friendly with the transgressor and less likely to turn it into a Federal case, so to speak. Regardless, I am eager to see what happens as the island's economy starts to go into a slowdown.

—Alex, 03/09/08