The state wanted to hire private security guards to man the new metal detectors in the State Capitol.

But the contract with Arekat Pacific Security, Inc. was expanded to pay for seven unarmed private guards to provide an additional layer of safety to augment what state sheriffs already do to protect state property, employees and visitors.

The state Department of Agriculture’s main office at 1428 S. King Street was later included in the Capitol District security contract after an increasing number of violent incidents over the last few years.

The department said the most recent incident was a few weeks ago when a homeless woman living in an encampment on the grassy lawn by the sidewalk fronting the building accosted a female employee and tried to grab her takeout lunch. The employee ran away from her attacker and made it to safety through the back door of the main office building.

Other incidents have been more dangerous. Sharon Hurd, director of the Department of Agriculture, said that on July 27, 2022, a woman who had come to the building to be certified as a pesticide applicator was stabbed in the back in the parking lot with a metal instrument. She recovered after hospital treatment. The incident happened so fast, the woman told police she was unsure of the kind of weapon.

A year ago, two homeless campers cooking a meal in front of the main entrance to the DOA building burned down the front door.

“They use the indentation by the front door as their bedroom, bathroom and kitchen,” Hurd said.

The city owns the grassy area by the sidewalk on King Street fronting the building. Staffers say they call the city for help when homeless campers are blocking the sidewalk or confronting visitors. The city then makes the campers move. But they return to set up their tents and tarps, sometimes in just a few hours.

Pedestrians uneasy about the sidewalk blocked by tents cross over to walk on the other side of King Street.

In June 2022, someone threw a cell phone through a front office window of the building. Thieves stole copper flashing off the roof in 2019.

On Dec. 19, 2022, a homeless person vandalized the restroom in the main office.

Hurd said she recently was confronted by a homeless man blocking her way to the parking lot when she was headed for home after working late. She said she told the man to move and he told her he meant no harm. She said, “But you are making me uncomfortable.”

Hurd said only after he let her pass to her car did she notice he had no pants on.

Before that there were other confrontations, including a naked woman pounding on the side of a FedEx truck delivering packages and two homeless men trying to force their way into the building in the early evening when some employees were still there.

A police officer passing by the building about two years ago stopped a woman when he saw her pulling out all the plants in the ground outside of the agency’s boardroom. 

Hurd says it has been safer since November when the state stationed two of the newly-hired private security guards at the building full-time and deployed additional guards to patrol the outside of the building and parking lot at night.

“Staffers’ morale has gone through the roof. It is as though sparkles are falling on us. Our employees are light on their feet. We are not scared now,” she said.

In his State of the City address Thursday, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said the general public has a right to expect their government to keep public places — including sidewalks — clean, safe and accessible.

But clearly the sidewalks are not clean, safe and accessible in front of the agriculture department’s main office and have not been for some time.

City spokesman Adam LeFebvre says residents should complain via the city’s 311 app and if there is a dangerous situation call 911.

“The Department of Community Services is aware of the homeless community in the vicinity of Pawaa In-Ha Municipal Park,” Honolulu Homelessness Coordinator Sam Moku said in a written statement, “and we are working with our network of service providers to reach out to individuals within the community and offer the services and support they need to encourage them to move into shelter or supportive housing.”

The state Department of Accounting and General Services hired the private guards from Arekat Pacific Security to start working in July 2023. The cost for the one-year contract is $1.3 million for the “patrol and presence” services of seven guards and an additional $24,000 for the use of two patrol vehicles for a year.

In addition, guards doing the metal-detector screening at the State Capitol building cost the state about $1 million.

“The provision of these services comes with a cost that pales in comparison to the cost of doing nothing and experiencing a security-related event,” State Comptroller Keith Regan wrote in an email.

The Hawaii State Library downtown is a beleaguered facility that has benefited from the comptroller’s new private guard service.

“The APS guards patrol and clear the library’s lanai at least two times each night. Before the additional security services were provided, the porch was covered in tents and tarps every night by people camping there,” State Librarian Stacey Aldrich wrote in an email.

“Our staff had to deal with biowaste and damage to the building almost every day. We want to make sure that we care for and have a safe and healthy space for all patrons, and the added security patrols are helping us do that,” she said.

Across the street from the Capitol, the Department of Health’s main office at Kinau Hale has also had its share of vandalism and confrontations with homeless campers.

“People camping in front of the building was prevalent after business hours; however, such loitering has significantly decreased since the security was implemented,” Spokesman Shawn Hamamoto wrote in an email.

Hamamoto said before the private guards came intruders regularly damaged parts of Kinau Hale.

“For example, last year a glass window on the first floor of the building was shattered. There have also been instances where the electric box mounted on the outside of the building was tampered with. DOH did not ask, but DAGS offered, and DOH accepted the new security,” he said. 

DAGS says the private guards are available to be deployed to state facilities outside of the Capitol District whenever the need arises.

The contract with Arekat Pacific Security expires June 25 but DAGS says it anticipates the responsibility and funding for the private security services will continue under the state’s new Department of Law Enforcement.

Hurd hopes the private guards will continue coming to the agriculture department’s building.

“They have made all the difference,” she said. “It is like a black cloud is gone. Employees are not as worried. Now they can do their jobs without being distracted.”