Reported Crime in Ventura Up 5% in ’94 : Law enforcement: Assaults and auto thefts fuel the rise. Serious offenses are below peak of three years ago. Violent offenses are up.

Reported crime rose 5% in Ventura in 1994 because of a surge in aggravated assaults and auto thefts, but serious offenses were still below their peak of three years ago, according to figures released Friday by the Police Department.

Violent crime increased 8% last year contrasted with 1993, and property offenses rose 5%, the report shows.

Overall, in the eight categories of crime the city reports to the FBI, serious offenses increased by 258--to 5,327--last year. Those crimes are homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, theft, auto theft and arson.

By far, property thefts and burglaries were the most common types of crime last year, making up 91% of all offenses. Over a 10-year period, property crimes have risen by 13%, the figures show.

But despite Ventura’s overall crime surge last year, violent offenses were up only 2% from a decade ago, according to the report.

Police Chief Richard Thomas said violence has inched up so slowly because residents are determined to keep such incidents at a minimum.

“Our community as a whole has got fed up with crime,” he said. “Citizens are more likely to call in when they witness something, and to help us apprehend criminals.

“People are mad as hell about this,” he said, “and there’s the attitude that ‘We’re not going to take it anymore.’ ”

Still, certain crimes increased precipitously last year.

Aggravated assaults shot up 19%, and auto thefts increased 18%.

Police attributed the rise in serious assaults in part to increasing youth violence.

“It’s been rearing its ugly head for a few years now,” Thomas said.

Indeed, aggravated assaults--those in which one person tries to inflict serious bodily harm on another--have been rising steadily in Ventura since 1991. This year’s count of 259, however, is 10% lower than the peak in 1986.

Mayor Tom Buford chairs the city’s Youth Task Force and has spent the past several years tackling youth problems. He said trying to get adults interested in the topic of youth violence is frustrating.

“People really notice when something violent happens,” he said, “but after that it drops off their radar screen.”

Buford said youth violence is so complex--touching on families and schools and whole communities--that people can be easily overwhelmed.

“Some of the seeds are deep within society,” he said. “So (dealing with it) is not easy to do.”

Part of the reason for the rise in reported assaults, police say, is because new department rules require that some domestic violence cases previously considered less serious now be filed as aggravated assaults.

Auto thefts, as well as thefts from autos, also rose in Ventura last year--a jump police ascribed to the increasingly lucrative market for used auto parts.

“The value of cars and the value of parts are dictating what’s going on there,” Sgt. Bob Anderson said, who supervises the department’s major crimes unit.

Among other local cities, only the Santa Paula and Simi Valley police departments have released 1994 crime figures.

Crime dropped 11.4% in Santa Paula last year, with violent crimes plunging by 25%. Police said the figures showed the success of a volunteer patrol and more aggressive police enforcement.

In Simi Valley, by contrast, crime rose nearly 10%. Theft and auto theft in particular rose 13%, offsetting violent crimes, which dipped 12.3%.

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Ventura Crime Statistics, 1992-94

1992 1993 1994 Homicide 4 9 5 Rape 35 29 23 Robbery 187 139 141 Aggravated Assault 226 218 259 Burglary 1,360 1,272 1,291 Theft 3,191 2,979 3,137 Auto Theft 378 366 431 Arson 53 57 40 Totals 5,434 5,069 5,327

Source: Ventura Police Department