OXNARD : Violent Crime Drops 22% in First Half

Oxnard’s rate of violent crime--homicide, rape, robbery and assault--dropped 22% in the first six months of this year compared to the same period last year, police said.

The city’s overall crime rate fell by nearly 14% from January to June compared to last year, said crime analyst David Keith, who attributed the drop to increased police vigilance and citizen activism.

Two-thirds as many rapes--29 compared to 43--were reported during the period, Keith said.

Robberies plummeted by 22% from 324 in the first half of last year to 252 this year, he said.

The most striking decrease was in the number of homicides, a 71% drop from seven in the first half of last year to two this year, Keith said.

In one incident, Juan Barrios Amaro, 47, has been accused of the fatal shooting of his wife, Beatriz Amaro, in March.

In the other homicide, Steven Rodriguez, 46, of Oxnard is accused of stabbing Raymond Caballero to death after the two fought at an Oxnard bar.

The police cannot take much credit for slowing crimes of passion, Keith added. “We like to see homicide down, but from two to seven or seven to two, we don’t have a big impact on that,” Keith said.

An increase in the number of citizens patrolling their neighborhoods for suspicious activity has bolstered official crime-fighting, Keith said.

Although staffing levels were not increased during the period, “officers have been asked to give a little bit more and work a little bit harder, and they’ve been doing that,” Keith said.

He acknowledged that it is premature to draw conclusions from the statistics because they represent a short period of time.

“It’s better to have a down blip than an up blip,” Keith said. “Ask me again in six months.”

Oxnard Crime The rate of violent crime dropped 22% in the first six months of this year compared to the same period last year, according to police.

First Half First Half Percent 1992 1993 Change Homicide 7 2 -71 Rape 43 29 -33 Robbery 324 252 -22 Assault 508 415 -18 Burglary 1,077 811 -25 Larceny/Theft 2,681 2,370 -12 Auto Theft 531 580 +9 TOTALS 5,171 4,459 -13.8