OXNARD : Major Crimes Are Down, Records Show

Midyear statistics released Wednesday by the Oxnard Police Department show major crimes are down 4.8%.

That’s the trend these days. Crime in Oxnard is down 22% since 1992.

While 68 of every 1,000 Oxnard residents were victims of major crimes three years ago, now just 53 of 1,000 residents are.

Compared to the first six months of last year, the number of homicides fell from seven to four. Over the same period, burglary is down 28%, to 684 incidents, and car theft fell 13%, to 473 cases.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is that rape is way up--31 incidents so far this year, compared to 13 over the same period last year. But police say the jump is deceptive because last year’s number of rapes was unusually low.

“We’ve always averaged between 50 to 75 rapes a year, but last year there were just 29,” Oxnard police spokesman David Keith said.

“Now the number is back about where it was--which doesn’t look so good, but it’s the historical average. We honestly don’t know why there were so few rapes last year,” he said.

Assault is up too, but officials maintain it’s due to an increased awareness of domestic abuse in light of the O.J. Simpson trail.

“I think women are more comfortable coming forward and reporting abuse,” Keith said.

The decrease in burglaries, car thefts and homicides can be attributed to the doubling of neighborhood patrols to 30 in recent months and the addition of 16 new officers on the beat, Keith said.