After one year of federal Weed and Seed funding, Lawrenceville has reduced drug crime and prostitution, dramatically in some areas.

It's a sign to Tony Ceoffe that the program is working, but as Lawrenceville's most zealous public-safety civilian, he has been working on a few more signs to enlighten criminals of Weed and Seed's potential.

Between this week and next, new billboards will warn the criminally minded of a higher risk.

Stenciled in bold letters stamped over a photo of a handcuffed man in an orange jumpsuit, the message reads, "Commit a crime in Lawrenceville, do federal time." It will be placed in Upper Lawrenceville. A softer version will go up elsewhere in the neighborhood -- a blue-skied view of Doughboy Square with the message in smaller letters, off to the side: "One of the city's best places to live, work and play is one of the worst to do a crime. Commit a crime here and you'll do federal time."

The truth is more nuanced.

Mary Beth Buchanan, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, said, "It doesn't make it a federal crime if the conduct occurs within a Weed and Seed area. Under the program's provisions, though, certain crimes in Weed and Seed neighborhoods, most involving guns and drugs, "are referred to my office for federal prosecution.

"We are predisposed to bringing them to federal court."

Federal prison sentences for gun and drug violations are usually longer than those won by state prosecution, said Ms. Buchanan.

"Many federal crimes are punishable by mandatory minimum sentences, and defendants who are a danger to the community or a flight risk can be detained pending trial," she said.

Her office did not have data available on its rate of prosecuting crimes committed in Weed and Seed neighborhoods.

Weed and Seed is locally overseen by the U.S. attorney's office and is currently in two additional neighborhoods. East Liberty-Garfield-Larimer, as one site, is nearing the end of the program's mandated five-year duration; eight West End neighborhoods are embarking on their first year as a single site.

The "weed" part pays for law enforcement, the "seed" part for programs to deter and prevent crime. The neighborhoods get $1 million over the five years, during which time neighborhood advocacy groups' efforts are infused with help from local, state and federal officials.

Having higher-stakes punishment "was one of the big carrots for us" in going after the funding, said Mr. Ceoffe, executive director of Lawrenceville United.

The neighborhood has been thriving in recent years with new businesses, artists, destination events and "new people in lofts," he said. "These people are contributing to a new attitude. They don't mind living in an edgy neighborhood, but they don't want to live in a dangerous place. There's outrage now when [criminal] things happen, and that's what you want."

Central Lawrenceville, with the bulk of the neighborhood's commerce, recorded the most overall crime in 2006, possibly tipped by theft, which includes shoplifting statistics.

The 10th Ward, or upper Lawrenceville, stretches roughly from the Allegheny Cemetery at Butler Street to the 62nd Street Bridge. It has posted the highest number of drug violations and prostitution arrests of the three sectors, though drug crimes have been cut in half there since 2005.

The most dramatic reductions occurred in central Lawrenceville, where prostitution arrests dropped to five compared to 36 last year, and drug violations, down to 18 from 42 over the same period. Lower Lawrenceville held steady in those two categories.

"We've come a long way," said Pittsburgh Police Zone 2 Cmdr. George Trosky. "It would have been hard to do it without Weed and Seed. We got a lot of overtime hours [paid for], two to four officers daily beyond the regular officers."

Lamar Advertising donated the billboards; Kolbrener USA donated the advertising design.

The people who have helped make Lawrenceville more livable "know it is a special place," said Mr. Ceoffe. "Now we want the criminals to know."