Although Hemet Police Chief Dave Brown told the City Council on Tuesday that crime is down in the city, he said his department’s work is not done.

“We are nowhere near where we need to be in terms of our crime rate,” Brown said. “There’s a lot of work to do. I know our community is still feeling unsafe.”

As the city grew and the Police Department shrunk under budget constraints, crime increased earlier this decade.

Those numbers are down and the department has stabilized, the chief said in an annual report about Project HOPE – Hemet’s Option for Policing Excellence – a plan to cut crime and the fear of crime in the city.

But he urged caution.

“We are not there yet. We have a long way to go,” Brown said. “But we’re trending in the right direction.”

Brown said despite the statistics, it will take a lot more work to assure residents that the city is safe.

“The benchmark for the fear of crime was shocking to me,” Brown said. “What we realized was we couldn’t deal with the fear of crime until we reduced the crime itself.”

In comparing the first six months of 2013 to the same time frame this year, Brown said crime is mostly down. Theft is down 13 percent, burglary 16 percent and grand theft auto 29 percent. Violent crimes also are down, he said, with a 21 percent drop in assaults and 22 percent in robberies. The numbers for murder, rape and assault with deadly weapons are unchanged.

Among the highlights of the report was a drop in prostitution. Since two officers were assigned full time to the ROCS team, 34 people have been arrested for prostitution this year.

“We have effectively eliminated Florida Avenue as a prostitution track,” Brown said.

He said while the sex trade has not been eliminated, it has moved off Florida Avenue, and prostitutes from out of town are no longer coming to Hemet to ply their trade.

Citizen involvement has made the city safer, the chief said, stating there is more participation in neighborhood watch programs and online sites that allow neighbors to communicate with each other.

“The community is more engaged than it’s ever been,” Brown said.

Brown stated a goal to get the department to a full allocation of 69 officers, 10 more than hit has now.

The chief said HPD is no longer losing officers to neighboring departments because they were concerned about instability in the city. Eight officers left in 2012, but none this year.

Not only are officers staying, but more are coming on board. Brown said HPD has received 11 applications from experienced officers from other departments since Hemet increased the cash incentive for transfers.

Council members praised the efforts of the Police Department.

“I think this council has proven over and over and over again that our Police Department is a priority,” Mayor Larry Smith said.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9086 or cshultz@pe.com