By Gregory Korte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Cincinnati crime statistics from January show that serious crime was down 6.8 percent and arrests were up 13.7 percent compared with a year ago.

CRIME RATES

The district-by-district numbers for January 2003 vs. January 2002: District 1: Calls for service down 0.1 percent; Part 1 crime down 7.8 percent; arrests up 27.4 percent. District 2: Calls for service up 11 percent; Part 1 crime down 12.5 percent; arrests down 27.1 percent. District 3: Calls for service up 5.4 percent; Part 1 crime down 1.3 percent; arrests down 1.5 percent. District 4: Calls for service down 7.6 percent; Part 1 crime down 9.8 percent; arrests up 42.4 percent. District 5: Calls for service up 5.9 percent; Part 1 crime down 5.1 percent; arrests up 26.9 percent. Note: Part 1 crimes are murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and auto theft. Source: Cincinnati Police Department

Mayor Charlie Luken said Friday the numbers are evidence that police are "working very, very hard to keep our citizens secure."

"The only thing I would caution is that January is one-twelfth of the year, so we are not declaring victory yet by any stretch," Luken said.

Luken's remarks came at the beginning of his first monthly meeting with police commanders to go over crime statistics. In his State of the City Address last week, he made safety the city's No. 1`priority for 2003.

Focusing on crime trends and neighborhood hot spots will help reduce the city's escalating violent crime rate, Luken said.

"We're going to work this day by day, week by week, and month by month," said Lt. Col. Richard L. Janke, commander of the Patrol Bureau. "If you see improvement every month, by the end of the year we'll have a successful year."

Luken said January's decline in "Part 1" crimes (the FBI's designation for murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and auto theft) could be directly attributed to heightened police activity.

He pointed to the West End, where police worked 16-hour shifts for a week after an assault on an undercover police officer on Central Parkway. Serious crime there was down 37.5 percent for the month.

Luken said Northside would be a particular focus this month. Serious crime there rose 16.3 percent last year

E-mail gkorte@enquirer.com