State and local officials are sounding the alarm after a new briefing showed Hawaii's ability to solve violent crimes has slipped sharply, leaving scores of serious cases unresolved. At a Nov. 21 briefing, experts told lawmakers the slide has left detectives stretched thin, forensic labs backlogged and victims waiting for answers. Legislators said they plan to push for new funding and policy changes when the Legislature reconvenes.
Briefing documents show the statewide "solve" rate for violent crime fell to about 40% in 2024, roughly 12 percentage points lower than in 2014, a drop that officials say means far fewer arrests and closures in homicides, rapes and aggravated assaults, according to KHON2. The presentation, led by the Council of State Governments Justice Center, brought together state and county criminal justice leaders, and several lawmakers in the room described the data as a wake up call for the coming session.
Backlog, Delays And A Stretched Lab System
Marshall Clement of the Council of State Governments Justice Center told attendees that the accumulated toll over the past three years includes roughly 1,700 robberies, more than 3,000 aggravated assaults, about 1,200 sexual assaults and an estimated 17 unsolved homicides, figures officials say reflect an investigation backlog. Deputy Attorney General Michelle Puu warned that "many critical tests must be outsourced, sometimes costing tens of thousands of dollars," which slows cases and drives up costs for counties, according to KHON2. Briefing materials argued that without added lab capacity and investigative support, the backlog will only grow.
Island Disparities: Oʻahu Vs. The Neighbor Islands
The statewide numbers also hide steep differences from island to island. The Honolulu Police Department cleared roughly 21% of reported offenses in 2024 and logged a homicide clearance rate near 57%, while neighbor islands reported lower clearance rates and greater staffing strain, according to reporting by Civil Beat. Police chiefs at the briefing said detectives on Maui and the Big Island are juggling heavy caseloads, leaning on technology such as license plate readers and sending forensic evidence off island for testing.
What Experts Say Should Change
Officials and national experts at the session urged targeted, practical investments: add detectives who focus on nonfatal shootings and other violent cases, strengthen in state forensic capacity, improve statewide data collection and increase support for witnesses. Those steps echo broader national work on how to improve clearance rates. The Council of State Governments director noted that clearance rates for murder, rape and aggravated assault have been trending downward for decades, and that national initiatives such as the Department of Justice funded National Case Closed Project lay out specific tactics for improving case outcomes, as discussed in reporting by Governing and the National Case Closed Project.
What's Next For Lawmakers
Lawmakers at the briefing signaled they will seek proposals in the upcoming session to bolster crime labs and investigative teams and to improve statewide reporting so officials can track progress across counties. The Attorney General's office has been developing a statewide crime dashboard and working with county prosecutors on next steps, according to the state's Criminal Justice Data Center (Hawaii Attorney General’s Criminal Justice Data Center). Funding and policy ideas are expected to surface as the Legislature takes up public safety budgets next year.
For victims and neighbors, the core worry is straightforward: fewer solved cases mean fewer answers. The briefing team and lawmakers argue that targeted spending and better case management offer the fastest path to turn the numbers around, leaving one big unresolved question of their own, whether the state will move quickly enough to do it.
