For one month, the killings quieted

After five shooting deaths in one week in late July, Mayor Thomas M. Menino and top police officials pleaded for the public's help and said they hoped that more summer jobs for youths and more officers on the streets would make a difference.

The tactics seem to be working.

There have been no homicides in Boston since Aug. 1, astonishing police and city officials who feared the city was headed to surpassing last year's 10-year high for homicides.

The city's one slaying this month represents the lowest monthly homicide total since at least January 2005. With 48 through yesterday, Boston is now just one ahead of last year's total to date.

``If things are going along real well, we all kind of sit here and cross our fingers and hope they continue to go well," said Acting Police Commissioner Albert Goslin

Police and city officials said yesterday many factors have contributed to the decline.

The city provided 9,400 teens with summer jobs this year -- an increase of 16 percent over last year -- and offered more teens with criminal records work than in the past.

Two police officials also credited an effort to lower tensions between two rival gangs. Community leaders have been a key part of that effort, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, because the department will not discuss the effort publicly.

Goslin said yesterday that assigning dozens of extra officers who worked overtime shifts starting in June to patrol the city's most violent areas -- the biggest show of force in nearly two years -- has also paid off.

While the department is not spending as much on overtime now, the relative peace over the past few weeks is in part due to the increased police presence in prior weeks, he said.

``We have focused enough of our resources in critical areas that historically have been problems," Goslin said in an interview yesterday. ``We are in some respects reaping the benefits of that."

Goslin also said community partnerships have also made a major difference this summer.

One community leader, who oversees a group of about 20 crime watches in Dorchester, said he has been gathering and distributing whistles to neighbors. Barry Mullen, said earlier this month one crime watch member stopped a robbery by blowing on his whistle, which residents are advised to listen for and respond to by calling police.

``We want people to be aware [and] when they hear whistles go out," Mullen said. ``I want to see all of Dorchester have these. . . . If it wasn't for community policing, I'm not sure where we'd be today."

There is also an element of luck. While there have been no homicides, the number of shootings is still up 34 percent so far this year.

Menino has his own theory. He said that while community support and more work for young people have been critical components of the city's antiviolence strategy, he also praised Goslin, who took over for former commissioner Kathleen M. O'Toole on July 1 when she left for a job with the Irish national police force.

Menino noted that Goslin served as a district commander in Roxbury for several years and cited the experience as an example of how the new commissioner can relate to the rank and file.

``Goslin has given real leadership to the department," Menino said in an interview. ``He's out there. He's energized a lot of folks in the department over the past couple months. He gave them direction. That was important."

Menino did not openly criticize O'Toole, but said her leadership style was different. She was ``a good ambassador for the department," the mayor said, praising her work building bridges with community leaders.

Goslin, he said, is ``still a street cop at heart. You need somebody who's hands on, who's out there, who the officers on the beat can relate to and is showing leadership every day."

Some community leaders agreed with Menino that Goslin has brought welcome changes to the Police Department.

``He's a street cop, unlike O'Toole who was just an administrator," said Jorge Martinez, the executive director of Project RIGHT , a Roxbury nonprofit focused on public safety issues. ``I think it does make a difference. . . . You get a little bit more out of folks with that kind of personality running the force."

Donovan Slack of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Suzanne Smalley can be reached at ssmalley@globe.com.