All major criminal offenses except arson dropped in Honolulu during the first six months of 2005, continuing a trend of declining crime rates, preliminary statistics released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation show.

Honolulu police attribute the declines to initiatives targeting career criminals, property criminals and low-level drug offenders.

The key, officials said, is focusing resources on the most prevalent offenses in each of the department's eight patrol districts.

"We are very pleased with the overall decrease in crime during the first half of 2005. It reflects what can be achieved through the collaborative efforts of law enforcement, prosecutors, the public and private sectors, and the community," said Deputy Chief Glen Kajiyama. "We look forward to further fostering these partnerships in the future."

City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle last night said incarcerating career criminals is a key approach that law enforcement can take toward lowering the crime rate.

"That means for 2 1/2 years crime has been going down," he said. "On the law enforcement side, there is a lot of cooperation between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. That works to everyone's advantage. We're incarcerating the right people."

Crime has been dropping in Honolulu every year since 2003, when total offenses fell to 50,912 from 57,271 the previous year. Offenses continued to tumble in 2004, when 46,628 crimes were reported.

The FBI statistics provide the most current gauge of crime activity, even though they cover just the first half of last year. A separate report by the state attorney general's office that was released last week only covers offenses reported in 2004. It shows that the crime rate in the state decreased 8.5 percent in 2004 from the previous year, a number in line with other crime trend assessments.

Overall, property crimes during the first six months of last year dropped to 20,240 from 22,654 in the same period of 2004, the FBI figures show. Violent crime dropped slightly from 1,263 during the first six months of 2004 to 1,185 last year.

FEWER CAR THEFTS

The biggest drop came in the category of car thefts and murders.

More than 4,000 car thefts were reported during the first six months of 2004, compared with 2,973 during the same time last year. Murders fell by more than half, from 13 to six, according to the FBI statistics.

One category that increased in 2005 was the number of arsons. Police reported 237 arsons during the first six months of last year, compared with 208 arsons during the first six months of 2004.

Crime declines in Honolulu mirror a national trend during the first six months of last year.

Violent crime in the United States dropped overall by half a percentage point, property crime fell by 2.8 percent, and arson fell by 5.6 percent.

The number of murders nationally went up 2.1 percent during the first six months of 2005, with the largest increases reported in cities having fewer than 10,000 residents, according to the FBI's Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report, released last month.

The FBI based its figures on crime reports from 10,374 police agencies nationwide.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.