Capitol Hill’s theft problem slowed as summer ended but the neighborhood is still on pace for a big jump in crime vs. last year, according to the latest data release by the Seattle Police Department.

Overall, Capitol Hill crime is trending at around 17% above last year’s totals, according to the latest data released through September. Seattle crime is up about 6% across the rest of the city. As you can see in the table below, the big problem on the Hill this year has been theft which includes car prowls and stealing things like bikes and wallets. Though the trend slowed in September, Capitol Hill is still weighing in with a near-41% jump in theft for 2009. While the theft trends slowed, burglaries picked up in September, pushing the year-to-date total to 8.9% higher than 2008.

Looking at the data by East Precinct beats, I-5 Shores’ E1 surge slowed considerably in August and September but nearby E2 more than made up for the decrease. E1 maintains its year-over-year lead in increased crime — but just barely. Still, you’ll note that E2’s trend is coming back to 2008’s rates after being well above that trendline for most of the year. Both E1 and E2’s 2009 jumps are driven by big increases in theft while E1 has also seen a more than 40% increase in robbery (that’s taking your stuff from you directly vs. sneaking off with it under cover of darkness). C1’s biggest year-over-year change, by the way, is in assault — there were 39 in the first 9 months of 2008, 61 in 2009. Meanwhile, Pike/Pine’s C2 increase is more balanced lead by a 38% uptick in theft so far in ’09.

So, what to take away from all of this? First, the Hill has some theft hot spots to be wary of. For another way to look at this, here’s a map of SPD reports from SeattleCrime.com for many of the more significant theft reports for the area over the past few months.

Each dot represents the approximate location of a car prowl or sidewalk theft in the area.

Secondly, you can take some steps to cut down the major driver in thefts this year. Here’s more from SeattleCrime on how to best avoid car prowls :

Checks and credit cards are hot items these days for car prowlers, along with iPods and GPS units. SO TAKE THAT STUFF WITH YOU!!!

But if you don’t: “Leave [your car] open with nothing in it. That way they don’t have to break your window to get in,” the officer says.

If your car is broken into, do not expect the CSI treatment from SPD (I know, I was disappointed too when David Caruso didn’t show up to my building and swab my car for fingerprints and DNA) as police consider burglaries and armed robberies to be higher priority cases which eat up a lot of resources. “[Car prowlers are] kind of under the radar unless they get prolific,” our source says, adding that a few car prowlers busted recently have been found carrying weapons.

King County prosecutors have only filed charges against about 20 car prowlers in the last year. (We don’t have the muni court case numbers.)

Car prowlers will only end up in district court if they take more than $750 worth of stuff or do an equivalent amount of damage to a vehicle.

It’s also a good reminder to treat the E1 and E2 beats with a little more caution when walking around at night. No need to panic and cede the streets to the bad guys. But give it some extra thought when checking your e-mail on your iPhone and, better yet, consider bringing a friend along. That’s more fun anyway.

We’ll update our regular blotter reports with a look at latest SPD reports from the end of November soon. We also have added a new Crime section in the CHS forums for you to discuss crime in the neighborhood and share tips and advice.