Aaron Poslick dons his body-worn camera and begins patrolling Kuhio Beach Park to enforce rules and deter low-level crime and antisocial behavior as part of Waikiki Business Improvement District’s new elevated safety ambassador team.
The pilot program, which began Wednesday, is meant to serve as a “force-multiplier” for the staff-constrained Honolulu Police Department.
Poslick stops at the Kuhio Beach Park picnic tables, where the city frequently receives complaints about loiterers drinking, drugging or engaging in harassing behavior or fights. He reminds those gathered that smoking and drinking are not permitted in the park and makes sure to emphasize the point to the career criminals he encounters, including one who has 551 criminal citations dating back to 2012.
Poslick prevents another man from setting up a drone since those are banned from the park too. He then strolls toward the Diamond Head side of the park where he stops to give directions. He crosses the street and walks down bustling Kalakaua Avenue sidewalk, and then veers onto Lili‘uokalani Avenue near the McDonald’s to enforce the city’s sit-lie law, which bans people from sitting or lying on a public sidewalk in the Waikiki special district.
Poslick also conducts similar enforcement on Ohua Avenue near where the St. Augustine by the Sea Catholic Church has held its Aunty Carmen’s Soup Kitchen ministry, which has provided free hot meals to those in need for over 50 years.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser joined Poslick; another elevated safety ambassador, Thoren Nansen; their supervisor Solomon Kaimimoku, general manager of the entire Aloha Ambassadors program; and WBID and Honolulu Police Department officials for an exclusive first look at the new program during its official launch last week.
The two comprise half of the team selected to participate in a WBID pilot to establish an Elevated Safety Ambassador Program aimed at augmenting safety efforts by HPD and Safe &Sound Waikiki, a crime-fighting collaboration that began in September 2021 and is supported by WBID, the Mayor’s Office, HPD, the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, and various other community partners.
Trevor Abarzua, WBID president and executive director, said Safe &Sound Waikiki has brought major improvements in public safety and quality of life to Waikiki. But Abarzua said that the Elevated Safety Ambassador Program is needed to provide another layer of support to address the district’s post COVID-19 crime spikes and persistent challenges tied to mental health and addiction that can negatively impact residents’ and visitors’ experiences in Waikiki.
Abarzua said the effort, which follows recent high-profile crime events in Waikiki, including the well-publicized fight between a lifeguard and career criminal Tommy Joe Chiles, 60, is meant to continuing deter crime and to help supplement HPD presence in the park and around nearby Kalakaua Avenue hot spots.
In that case, HPD originally arrested a 44-year-old city lifeguard for second-degree assault after he stopped Chiles, who had 76 criminal convictions, from harassing Kuhio beachgoers. Prosecuting Attorney Steve Alm declined to charge the lifeguard “because there was credible evidence to show that he acted in self-defense.”
Alm said that, “the alleged victim in that case, Tommy Chiles, was arrested for disorderly conduct for allegedly attempting to fight with people on the beach.”
Waikiki resident John Deutzman, who tracks crime data in his neighborhood, said the case illustrates how places like the Kuhio Beach picnic table can turn into attractive nuisances without ongoing enforcement of the rules and consequences for rule breakers and contribute to a proliferation in minor and even felony crimes.
“It’s death by 1,000 cuts,” Deutzman said. “We have to stay on top of it.”
Force multiplier
Abarzua said WBID has budgeted $400,000 to $500,000 of its funding, which comes from Waikiki property owners, to support the pilot’s first year to “provide an elevated safety presence distinct from the ‘hospitality first’ Aloha Ambassadors,” who have worked “to make Waikiki clean, safe and hospitable” for more than 20 years.
“This is a separate program to add more boots on the ground to have that extra presence,” he said. “One of the big differences is the uniform — it’s a little more commanding, as well as the body-worn cameras, which are a big deterrent and can be used to capture evidence. A lot of times (the elevated safety ambassadors) are going to be the first person to witness a fight or see someone using drugs in the park where they can capture it on the body camera. They can call HPD and HPD will then assist.”
Solomon Kaimimoku, general manager of the Aloha Ambassadors program, said the new program provides 24/7 daily coverage across three shifts. Kaimimoku said one elevated safety ambassador works each shift and a supervisor trained in the elevated safety approach provides backup and added presence. He said safety ambassadors, who are already part of the Aloha Ambassadors program, also are available on mountain bikes to patrol larger areas and to assist when needed.
“The elevated safety ambassadors are trained in deescalation and have a more direct approach,” Kaimimoku said, adding that they also undergo more advanced first-aid training.
He said the program is heavily supported by HPD leadership, who attend monthly meetings, and by HPD officers who are in daily communication with the elevated safety ambassadors.
Dave Willard, WBID vice president and deputy executive director, said essentially a key goal of the program is to become a “force multiplier,” especially for HPD.
“This is just one part of a lot of initiatives through the street outreach program, through park activations. This is just one piece of it — it’s not just a ‘get off my lawn’ type of approach,” Willard said.
Small district,
big city issues
HPD Major Bradon Ogata, who is assigned to HPD’s District 6, said, “This is enormous for us. It will help us to basically see into areas.”
While District 6 is HPD’s smallest police district, it holds great importance because it includes the Waikiki peninsula, a 1.5-square-mile section bordered by the Ala Wai Canal, slopes of Diamond Head, and the Pacific Ocean. There’s even a Waikiki Police Substation on Kalakaua Avenue, the 50-yard-line of the state’s top tourism district and the very densely populated residential community.
“Waikiki is the central economic hub for the state — it’s the place that people come to to enjoy themselves,” Ogata said. “We have to maintain Waikiki as a premier place to visit for our world travelers and, of course, for our island community.”
In 2024, HPD responded to 2,381 calls for service in District 6.
Ogata said HPD must respond to 911 calls so “having additional people out in the streets to monitor some of our problem areas and to provide statements to us to support us when we need to address different types of criminal acts” is “exactly what we need.”
He said having elevated safety ambassadors to handle small issues in Waikiki will help HPD concentrate on the larger challenges.
David Aguilar, regional vice president for Block by Block, WBID’s human resources and staffing partner for its ambassadors’ programs, told the Star-Advertiser that the Waikiki program is on the pioneering end of what he believes will be a national trend, especially in cities.
He said that Waikiki’s Elevated Safety Ambassador Program was modeled after other similar programs in the Southwest region that he oversees, including Hollywood, West Hollywood and Tempe, Ariz. All have seen crime reductions, Aguilar said.
The city of West Hollywood piloted its elevated safety ambassador program in November to address internal human resources concerns from parks and recreation staff who were dealing with the challenges from its “unhoused population,” including mental health and substance abuse issues, he said.
“Once we completed training and introduced ambassadors, (the West Hollywood) program was impactful almost immediately,” he said.
Aguilar said the program was the first time in about 25 years that the separate Hollywood’s entertainment district had hired an unarmed security firm. He said cost was part of the rationale, but that the ability to resolve issues without drawing attention is often more important to clients.
Aguilar pointed to the fallout in 2019 in Santa Monica, Calif., after a robbery prompted an armored truck guard to fire off his weapon on the Third Street Promenade.
“It created a PR nightmare for the organization even though it had nothing to do with the organization,” he said.
Aguilar said another strength of elevated safety ambassadors is that they are more proactive than reactive.
“A lot of it is visibility, but folks would rather deal with us than law enforcement. We have over a 90% compliance rate when we respond to calls for services generated by businesses that are reporting unwanted behavior,” he said.
Aguilar said despite the risks of the job, there have only been a handful of elevated safety ambassadors out of the hundreds of hires that have been assaulted on the job.
“We really focus on training and situational awareness,” he said.
Poslick said that he has noticed that visible gear like his body-worn camera and radio also have enhanced his safety and increased his effectiveness.
“With the camera on, I’ve noticed that there is a bit more compliance,” he said. “They are being filmed.”
Hospitality-first effort
Jeff Merz, a member of the Waikiki Neighborhood Board, said the Elevated Safety Ambassador Program satisfies the board’s calls for a greater on-foot law enforcement presence, especially in the wake of highly publicized HPD patrol officer shortages.
“It’s a great way to show presence, while using a more accessible Hawaiian-style approach,” Merz said. “You need to have your operation reflect the values of the community and ours is a walkable community.”
Ogata said in his view a major strength of the Elevated Safety Ambassadors Program is its focus on providing public education and outreach.
“We want to have a good environment in Waikiki so sometimes it might just take a warning,” he said. “It may just take a little bit of education, and if we can achieve the end goal through the assistance of the elevated safety ambassadors, that’s perfect.”
Nansen said now that he has been promoted to an elevated safety ambassador he gets more questions than he did before.
“They have started to recognize our presence,” he said. “Some of them have said, ‘The police substation is so far,’ so it’s nice to have people that they can ask that are closer. They ask questions like, ‘Are you allowed to drink or smoke on the beach?’ We say, ‘No,’ but we give them some options.”
Nansen said that the team also provides expanded outreach for the district’s homeless residents, and he has noticed a diminished street presence since the elevated safety ambassadors begin their soft launch.
“The cement picnic table area has gotten a lot more clear, and the hula mound as well,” he said.
Ogata said the elevated safety ambassadors expand HPD’s ability to help others.
“Now we can really get to know people who may need resources not just for enforcement purposes, but maybe for mental health assistance,” he said. “We can identify those people and get that help out to them easier because we have more people now. We have a bigger group out there trying to help.”
Safe & Sound Waikiki
Safe & Sound Waikiki began in September 2021 as a crime-fighting collaboration between the Waikiki Business Improvement District, the Honolulu Police Department, the Honolulu Mayor’s Office, the Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, and various other community partners. Since the program began, homelessness and crime have dropped in Waikiki
Percentage reductions from September 2021 to June 2025:
>> Homelessess: 39%
>> Burglary: 30%
>> Vandalism: 54%
>> Drug and narcotic offenses: 43%
>> Larceny and theft offenses: 27%
>> Robbery: 12%
>> Assault: 8%
First two weeks of the Elevated Safety Ambassador Program
The Elevated Safety Ambassador Program officially began on Aug. 20, but it achieved the following results during its two-week soft launch:
>> 182 sit-and-lie icidents addressed
>> 123 park closure violations
>> 15 drug use in the park
>> 13 private property trespass
>> 13 public intoxication
Source: Waikiki Business Improvement District
Source: The Garden Island
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