Ventura County Crime Rises 3.7%, but Stays Low in Comparison

Although Ventura County continues to have the lowest crime rate of any major county in the West, it showed an increase in crime in 1990 in contrast with a general decrease for California, according to FBI statistics.

Ventura County had 3,957.5 crimes per 100,000 people last year, an increase of 3.7% over 1989. That contrasted with a 2.4% decrease in crime for the state, the FBI’s annual report on crime in the United States said. The report was released this week.

The county showed a drop in murders, but increases were recorded in the major crime categories of forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and auto theft, according to the report.

“No one really knows, beyond the general population increase, what causes this kind of phenomenon,” Ventura County Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury said. “It’s something that needs to be studied.”

Taking note of the still-low crime level in the county when compared to other metropolitan areas, Bradbury said law enforcement here is reinforced because “it has extra support from the citizens in this county.”

Also holding down the crime rate, he said, is the county’s tough reputation for sending offenders to jail.

Oscar L. Fuller, assistant Ventura County sheriff, said county residents traditionally have felt more secure living here than elsewhere.

But, reflecting on the county’s suddenly climbing crime rate, he said the feeling of security among the citizenry “is beginning to wane.”

Part of the reason for this, Fuller said, is that the level of violent crime is more visible now. This perception, he said, contributes to public apprehension over whether living in Ventura County is as safe as it used to be.

This happens, he said, “when you see big-city problems you didn’t see before.”

Sheer population growth can also bloat crime statistics, another sheriff’s official said. But that is not the whole story, Cmdr. Merwyn Dowd added.

To be sure, “the increase in population has a substantial impact on the crime rate,” said Dowd, who is in charge of west county operations.

“The second thing is the significant increase in gang activity in the county,” he said.

In addition to local gang activity, gang elements from Los Angeles that were not active in the county before “are now visible here,” thus contributing to heightened criminal activity, he said.

Nationwide, the FBI’s index of major crimes rose 2% to 14.5 million offenses in 1990. This was 10% above the level of five years earlier, and 8% higher than a decade ago.

Los Angeles County’s crime rate for last year was nearly double that of Ventura County, the report said, with a rate of 7,468.1 per 100,000 inhabitants.

Nearby counties again had a substantially higher crime rate than Ventura County’s, according to the report.

Santa Barbara showed a rate of 4,680.4 per 100,000 people. Orange County’s was 5,965 per 100,000 inhabitants. San Diego County’s rate was 7,149.7 per 100,000 people.

Of the Ventura County cities for which the report lists crime statistics, Oxnard, as it did in 1989, had the highest crime rate--8,464 per 100,000 people.