Though it hasn't been a particularly peaceful year, Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl made the case today that his 52 Weeks of Peace campaign to involve churches in the fight against crime has laid the groundwork for a lowering of the temperature in some of the city's hot zones.

Just back from a week-long battle with strep throat, Mr. Ravenstahl honored 18 churches and other faith-based organizations that participated in the effort, which was touted in June 2007 as a centerpiece of his anti-crime program.

"We needed the faith-based organizations, and I believe that over the last year, we've made some significant strides," he said. "There's a lot of work to be done, and we need your help to do it."

This year, shootings have picked up to the point where the number of victims in the city is very likely to exceed that in any recent year. Shootings yesterday took lives in Perry South and East Hills.

"We're terribly concerned by the recent spike in violence," said Mr. Ravenstahl. "It's unacceptable. It has to change."

The goal of the 52 Weeks effort, which involved meetings with youth in churches and the distribution of silent complaint forms, "was to have community people involved, to educate them, to let them know that they need to bring information forward, that it's OK to do that. So from that standpoint, I think we've been successful."

Statistics on the number of silent complaint forms turned in were not immediately available.

The churches brought into the fold by the 52 Weeks of Peace effort will soon be asked to participate in the emerging Pittsburgh Initiative to Reduce Crime, he said. That initiative follows Boston's model of gathering intelligence on organized criminal groups, communicating with them, and ensuring that when the first shooting happens, "there's going to be hell to pay" for the group involved, as the mayor put it today.

Churches "will be asked, for example, to volunteer a lot of information up front, to communicate with our police bureau on identifying and coming up with the gangs, organizations, et cetera, whatever you want to call them, on the front side of the equation, so we'll have a good gauge of who these criminals are in our communities," he said.

The idea of churches as intelligence gatherers got a mixed reaction.

"We have to be careful that we don't go over the line and no longer be seen as a safe place for youth to come," said the Rev. Paul Roberts, pastor of Eastminster Presbyterian Church in East Liberty. His church, along with Rodman Street Baptist Church and Peabody High School, formed the three points of a "Triangle of Peace" during the 52 weeks, cooperating to reach young people with the message that violence hurts everyone.

The Rev. Leslie Boone said her Hazelwood Presbyterian Church has been called "a snitch church" for its role in helping police clear out drug trafficking in areas "where a lot of the activities happened." She said members of her flock used silent complaint forms to help police make arrests.

The Rev. Lamont Shields of Morningside Church of God in Christ said he did not see a conflict between a church's roles as the community's confidant and as a partner with law enforcement.

Taking back communities "is basically up to the churches, because as far as I can see, everything else has really failed," he said.