The recent reopening of some Lahaina neighborhoods may make it possible for residents to start rebuilding homes. But expensive tools and equipment left in uninhabited areas without streetlights may be an easy lure for crimes of opportunity.

Mayor Richard Bissen said he asked the Maui Police Department to increase patrols in the reopened areas. The police are saying citizens should do their part starting a neighborhood watch program.

But they acknowledged that it’s hard to watch over your neighborhood when you don’t live there.

“Honestly, I am going to be real. You guys are not in your neighborhood, so it is going to be difficult to create a neighborhood crime watch if you are not in the neighborhood,” MPD Lt. Audra Sellers said at a community meeting at Lahaina Civic Center last week. “But I’ll give you the information, and it is a great program.”

The National Neighborhood Watch program, started in 1972, helps to deter crime and create stronger bonds between neighbors, according to its website.

The program consists of neighbors coming together and helping each other watch their properties, Sellers said. They know who belongs in the neighborhood and confront people who don’t belong there “in a nice way, not in a bad way.”

 “We will teach you that. Communication is a big thing,” Sellers said, adding the program represents “homeland security at its most local level.”

Residents should recruit as many neighbors, she said, building “a tree of people” to open a communication channel and create a plan. They should have meetings and walks. They should also contact the police, who will provide the group with information and neighborhood watch signage.

“We have got some really nice (signs). I’ll help you put those up in your neighborhood,” Sellers said.

One of the main concerns in Lahaina, she said, is the big equipment residents and contractors will be bringing in to rebuild homes. “If it is not secure, they are going to take it,” she said of thieves. Generators were stolen from distribution hubs, she said, even though they were being given away.

She advised residents and their contractors to lock up equipment and build fences around construction sites, while also building relationships with neighbors and installing surveillance cameras.

Bissen said at the meeting that there was a lot of criticism of the county for setting up roadblocks and closing neighborhoods after much of the town burned in August 2023, and now his administration is being criticized for reopening them.

Once debris has been cleared, Bissen said, there is no legal reason for the county to close roads and block people from public spaces. But the county has prepared signs saying “local traffic only” to dissuade nonresidents, including tourists, from coming through the neighborhoods.

Wahikuli, Mala and everything south of Shaw Street has reopened. The rest of the burn zone is still open for local access only, with checkpoints. County communications officer Lila Lawrence said there is no set schedule for other areas to reopen.

Bissen said he met with MPD Deputy Chief Wade Maeda, who told him he instructed Capt. Everett Ferreira and Assistant Chief Keola Tom to increase patrols in the reopened neighborhoods.

The department has not responded to a request for specifics on increased patrols.

Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by a grant from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.