Paul Putzulu, the deputy chief in charge of Honolulu police field operations, believes the numbers indicate that a plan between police and prosecutors to get repeat offenders off the street is working.

"We've been working with the prosecutor's office to identify the most active (property crime) people in the districts that we're aware of and if they get arrested and we can make a good case, they'll get charged," Putzulu said. "That means bail is set and if they can't make bail, they get can't go back out right away and commit crimes in the community.

"I can't say that's the sole reason that property crimes are down but we believe there's a connection," Putzulu added.

There were 48,306 property crimes reported in 2003 to police. The cases include 7,967 burglaries; 32,086 larceny/thefts and 8,253 auto thefts. By comparison, the 54,670 cases in 2003 included 8,932 burglaries, 37,250 larceny/thefts and 8,488 auto thefts.

Violent crimes, meanwhile, increased slightly over the same period although there were fewer murders, forcible rapes and robberies reported to Honolulu police. The .02 percent increase is due to a rise in aggravated assaults from 1,207 cases in 2002 to 1,336 cases last year.

The numbers come from 11,921 law enforcement agencies around the country that take part in the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program. The final report for 2003 will be released in October.

Only Honolulu numbers are recorded because the report is for cities with populations of 100,000 or more.

The 15 murders last year in Honolulu were three fewer than in 2002. There were 266 rapes and 989 robberies reported in 2003 as compared with 304 rapes and 1,072 robberies in 2002.