Property crime is down, but violent crime is up in Honolulu, according to preliminary 2006 statistics released by the FBI yesterday.

A nearly 9 percent drop in Honolulu crime overall last year was tempered by a 5.9 percent increase in murders, robberies, assaults and other violent crime. It was the biggest percentage increase in violent crime in Honolulu since 2001.

The FBI blamed growing drug use.

"Historically in Hawai'i, we've been a relatively safe and secure environment, but with the drug epidemic here, the violence is increasing and we are now becoming less safe and we're starting to mirror other states with similar problems," said Robert J. Kauffman, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's Honolulu division.

"Drug trafficking is on the rise here, and the Mexican drug cartels are really fighting over turf and they are bringing those violent rivalries here. Every drug group has weapons, and with weapons comes violence."

A total of 40,943 crimes were reported in Honolulu in 2006 compared with 44,953 in 2005.

Of the total, property crime accounted for 38,221 offenses last year, down from 42,383 the previous year, a drop of 9.8 percent.

There were 2,722 violent crimes in Honolulu last year, compared with 2,570 in 2005.

"We're monitoring the situation, but there is no cause for alarm," said Michelle Yu, public information officer for the Ho-nolulu Police Department. "The decreasing property crime is good news."

The local statistics were part of an overall 1.3 percent rise in violent crime across the country in 2006 — the second straight annual increase.

The increase in violent crime in Honolulu was driven by a 12 percent increase in robberies and a 3.3 percent increase in assaults. Murders were up by two, to 17, and the number of sexual assaults decreased.

"Any increase is cause for concern, but despite the rise in the number of violent crimes, Honolulu remains one of the safest cities in the country," said Mayor Mufi Hannemann. "That's a tribute to the hard-working men and women who make up our Honolulu Police Department, as well as law enforcement officials at the state and federal levels who work to combat crime here in our city."

In response to the surge in drug activity, the FBI has redeployed an undisclosed number of agents to the state's violent crime task force — a unit made up of FBI agents, Honolulu police officers and agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — in an effort to crack down on violent behavior.

In Honolulu, most violent crimes are prosecuted on the state level, but the federal government gets involved when firearms are used in the commission of a crime.

Since January, the U.S. attorney's office has charged 31 defendants with federal firearm offenses. This group has a combined total of more than 650 prior arrests and more than 200 prior convictions.

"It has always been my belief that those criminals who possess guns in our community are the most violent of the groups," said Ed Kubo, U.S. attorney for the district of Hawai'i. "And, because many of these violent criminals are repeat offenders, I remain convinced that we need to continue focusing on these individuals in order to work on lowering our violent crime rate."

Hawai'i criminals sent to the Mainland to serve prison sentences also are a source of violent crime once they are released into the local community, according to a local criminologist.

Mainland prisons are notoriously more violent than Hawai'i facilities, according to Ronald F. Becker, an attorney and director of the criminal justice program at Chaminade University.

Becker said once Hawai'i inmates return, "They come back more violent, better educated and affiliated with gangs."

He called the Mainland prisons "a graduate school for criminality. I understand it is a cost issue, but you're going to pay a price."

At the end of January, the state was holding 2,115 prisoners on the Mainland, which is about 58 percent of the state's total prison population.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.