Crime in Honolulu rose nearly 6 percent in the first half of 2009, even as it fell nationwide.

Property crimes accounted for much of the increase here, led by an 18 percent rise in auto thefts. But violent crime also was up, new FBI figures show.

Nevertheless, crime during the period is still down when compared with 2007.

Honolulu has had steady declines in crime over the past decade, earning it the title of the nation's safest major city. However, authorities had warned that the economic downturn could trigger a spike in major crime, especially thefts.

And indeed, thefts were up 8 percent in the first six months of 2009.

The six-month preliminary FBI figures, which are designed as a snapshot to help spot major crime trends, could mean Honolulu will end 2009 with an uptick in crime. If it does, it would be the first such increase since 2002. (When the 2009 six-month figures for property and violent crimes are doubled, the total is 34,614, which is slightly higher — only about 1 percent — from the total in 2008.)

But officials aren't convinced the six-month increase will result in an overall hike.

"It's a little too early to tell," said city Prosecutor Peter Carlisle, adding that major crimes appeared to decline during the later part of the year. "Things are doing better in the second half."

Carlisle also said there is no clear evidence to show the sick economy will drive up crime in the Islands.

"I think that the jury is still out in Hawai'i about what the effects of a sour economy are. Overall, the (annual) crime rates have made us the safest big city in the United States," he said.

Still, Carlisle said the six-month figures are worth looking at, especially when determining whether anything can be done to fight crime. He said other factors also should be considered, including how many of the crimes included suspects who were repeat offenders.

A DROP FROM '07

The preliminary FBI figures, released this month, showed that there were 17,518 violent and property crimes and arsons reported from January through June 2009, compared with 16,547 in the first six months of 2008 (which translates into a 5.8 percent increase). Meanwhile, the new figures represent an 18 percent drop in crime from January to June 2007, when there were 21,298 crimes.

The figures are for all of O'ahu.

Most of the increase was in property crimes.

Over the six-month period in 2009, there were 16,196 property crimes and arsons reported, up nearly 6 percent from 2008, when 15,311 were reported. Thefts saw the biggest raw number increase, from 10,348 in in the first half of 2008 to 11,174 in 2009 — an 8 percent jump. Meanwhile, the number of car thefts went up about 18 percent, from 1,702 in the 2008 period to 2,003 this year.

Violent crimes increased nearly 7 percent, to 1,322 from 1,236, FBI figures show.

There were 10 murders in the first half of 2009, compared with eight in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, 131 first-degree sex assaults were reported, up from 93 the year before.

Assaults and robberies also nudged up slightly.

Major offenses in just one category decreased compared to the six months in 2008: The statistics showed burglary decreased about 9 percent, with 2,808 reported in the 2009 period.

'INTENDED AS A TOOL'

Tom Simon, FBI Honolulu spokesman, said he couldn't comment on the new figures because though the FBI compiles the data for major municipalities with more than 100,000 people, most of the crimes in the O'ahu numbers fall under the jurisdiction of the Honolulu Police Department.

He did say that the six-month report is "intended as a tool to assist local law enforcement in spotting trends so they can more efficiently marshal" their dollars and manpower.

An HPD spokeswoman had no comment on the figures yesterday.

Nationally, the Semi-annual Uniform Crime Report showed the number of violent crimes reported drop-ped 4.4 percent in the first half of 2009, and the number of property crimes declined 6.1 percent.

Those trends held for the West. The region saw violent crime decrease by 3.3 percent over the period, while property crime dropped by 6.7 percent.

All other regions of the nation also saw nearly across-the-board declines in crime.

The report includes data from more than 11,700 law enforcement agencies.

The only Hawai'i numbers included in the report are for O'ahu.