County Is Safest Urban Area in the West : Statistics: A dramatic decline in Oxnard crime rate propels region back to the top. Authorities credit citizen involvement.

By KENNETH R. WEISS

Dec. 6, 1994 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Ventura County reclaimed its title as the safest urban area in the West in 1993 after nearly a 10% drop in serious crime, according to figures released Monday by the FBI.

The county’s relatively low crime rate was pushed down by a dramatic drop in crime in Oxnard--the county’s largest and most crime-ridden city--and by Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks posting statistics as two of the safest cities of their size in the nation.

For the previous two years, Provo, Utah, had displaced the county as the safest urban area among the 13 western states. Crime fell in Provo in 1993, but not as fast as it did in Ventura County.

Ventura County reported 38.8 crimes per 1,000 residents, a 9.7% drop from the 1992 rate of 43 crimes per 1,000 people, according to the FBI’s long-delayed Uniform Crime Reports.

Provo posted a rate of 40.7 crimes per 1,000 residents, falling behind the county and other safe western metropolitan areas of Fort Collins, Colo., San Luis Obispo County, and Bremerton, Wash.

“We were very successful last year,” said Oxnard Police Chief Harold L. Hurtt, pointing out his city’s 13.7% drop in crime.

He attributed the crime reduction to the $1 million added to the city’s police budget, the enforced ban on cruising on Oxnard Boulevard, new storefront stations in crime-troubled areas and citizens organizing their own neighborhood patrols.

“People were frustrated with the crime problem and they have taken an active part in our prevention efforts,” Hurtt said.

Ventura County’s rate of serious crime--violence such as rape, robbery and murder, along with burglaries and theft--was more than one-third lower than California’s and more than one-fourth below the nationwide norm.

Ventura County’s crime rate was also far lower than that of any large Southern California county, roughly 45% lower than the rate in Los Angeles and 18% lower than that in Santa Barbara County.

“That’s why I live here,” said Ventura County Undersheriff Richard S. Bryce. The Sheriff’s Department handles police matters for five of the county’s 10 cities and all of the unincorporated areas in the county.

Bryce said Ventura County has been able to maintain a reputation as a strong law-and-order community, particularly with some would-be criminals. “I think that has helped more crime from infiltrating from Los Angeles.”

He also said that law enforcement agencies work well with each other and with members of the public to deter crime and capture criminals.

“As much as I’d like to take credit, it still comes back to the kind of people we have as neighbors,” Bryce said.

Simi Valley Police Chief Willard R. Schlieter, who joined the Simi Valley department earlier this year, said he too has noticed an exceptional willingness by residents to get involved. And that has helped his officers control crime spilling over the Los Angeles County line.

“In some cities, people hear gunshots and smashing of glass and they won’t bother calling the cops,” Schlieter said.

But Simi Valley residents are very attentive and helpful, he said. “We wind up arresting people in stolen vehicles as they are trying to leave our city. We get the information that fast.”

The FBI reported Ventura County’s violent crimes of murder, rape and assault dropped from 3,799 in 1992 to 3,471 in 1993, a decline of 8.6%. Property crimes of burglary, theft and car theft fell from 26,045 in 1992 to 23,466 in 1993, a 9.9% decline.

Nationwide, Ventura County is less of a standout when it comes to comparing low crime rates in the Northeast, Midwest and South. The county ranked 48th out of the nation’s 272 Metropolitan Statistical Areas measured in the 1993 Unformed Crime Reports.

The FBI annual crime report defines Metropolitan Statistical Areas as an urbanized area that has a central city or a cluster of communities with economic and social ties and at least 50,000 people. Nearly 80% of the U.S. population is located in these statistical areas.

Johnstown, a two-county community of 241,800 people in western Pennsylvania, kept its title as the safest metropolitan area in the country with a mere 15.6 crimes per 1,000 residents.

At the other end of the scale, Miami and surrounding Dade County in Florida held onto the dubious distinction as having the highest rate, 135 crimes per 1,000 people.

Urban Crime in 1993

Serious crimes per 1,000 residents.*

Southern California

Ventura County: 38.8

Santa Barbara County: 47.5

Orange County: 53.8

San Diego County: 61.6

Los Angeles County: 70.4

Riverside-San Bernardino: 72.0

10 Safest Urban Areas

in the West

Ventura County: 38.8