Serious Crime in County Falls 25% Since 1992

Ventura County crime dropped in 1997 for the sixth straight year, reaching levels not seen in the county since the early 1970s, police agencies report.

Incidents of serious crime fell to 21,989 last year, down 5.7% from 1996 and 25% since 1992.

Taken together, new crime reports for 10 cities and the unincorporated area show that Ventura County--consistently the safest urban area in the West--is likely to retain that distinction when the FBI releases national crime data this fall.

Authorities said the good news results partly from a simple demographic shift: Residents are generally older and less prone to crime.

But the county also benefits from citizen patrols and a trend toward more police involvement out of patrol cars and in the community.

“We like to compare crime to a cancer that has to be attacked early and aggressively,” said Chief Deputy Bob Brooks, who heads the sheriff’s east county station. “And that’s what we do here.”

Especially impressive have been the continued drops in violent offenses.

Murder, rape, robbery and felony assaults decreased 13.1% last year, with drops in Oxnard accounting for nearly all of that reduction. The five-year countywide reduction was 28%.

Moorpark remained the county’s safest city last year with 507 serious crimes and 44 incidents of felony violence. Its crime rate was 17.8 offenses per 1,000 residents.

Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley were nearly as safe, with crime rates of 19.8 and 20.9, respectively.

Despite sharp reductions for five straight years, Oxnard still had the county’s highest crime rate in 1997 and accounted for 41% of the violent crimes reported locally.

Most local communities reported declines in both violent crimes and property offenses--burglary, theft, auto theft and arson. Camarillo, Fillmore, Ojai and Port Hueneme reported small increases.

But overall, the trend remains one of falling crime. No local city has a higher crime rate than it did in 1992, and only Camarillo and Port Hueneme had increases in incidents of crime over that period.

Crime fell most precipitously in Simi Valley, 38.7%. But drops of 34.2% in Santa Paula, 33.7% in Thousand Oaks and 29.4% in Ventura were almost as impressive. Fillmore, Oxnard and Ojai had reductions of 20% or more.

The downward trend reflects similar declines in California and the nation as a whole.

Analysts attribute the drop to an aging population. But local officials said the explanation is more complicated than that.

“It’s a national trend, but it seems we’ve been on the leading edge of that trend,” Brooks said.

From residents who report suspicious cars on their streets, to nighttime curfews for kids, to crack police teams who deal with gang members, Ventura County is attacking crime aggressively, local police chiefs say.

And vigilant neighbors are a key component of that scheme.

Jason Karpf, a Neighborhood Watch captain in Thousand Oaks, thinks he is helping keep his community safe.

Concerned about youth gangs, Karpf helped form a watch group two years ago. And he has helped start two more since then.

Now he and his neighbors keep a close eye on suspicious activity.

“The police tell you the difference between being a concerned citizen and somebody that’s being nosy,” he said. “At the very least, Neighborhood Watch helps you get to know your neighbors and lets people know that they can make a difference.”

Along with encouraging citizen patrols, police are getting involved in nontraditional forms of police work, Sheriff’s Sgt. Harold Humphries said.

“We deal with citizens’ concerns before they become a crime problem,” said Humphries, who heads the Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving unit in Thousand Oaks.

Modeling itself after similar programs in San Diego and Sacramento, the unit has helped write city ordinances to deal with homelessness and student truancy.

The emphasis on community policing and citizen involvement is pretty much the same countywide, authorities say.

In Oxnard, few people were involved in citizen patrols five years ago. But now more than 1,000 people--one in every 150--are involved in Neighborhood Watch.

“I think it makes a big difference, especially with property crimes,” Police Chief Harold Hurtt said.

A crackdown on gangs has also helped Oxnard cut its crime rate dramatically.

Violent crime in Oxnard dropped nearly 24% from 1996 to 1997. Reported felony assaults fell from 849 to 470, and homicides dropped from 16 to five.

In Ventura, where crime is at its lowest level since the city began keeping records in 1970, there were significant drops in theft, burglary and auto theft. Violent offenses dropped from 409 to 380.

Last year, however, violent crime rose slightly in Camarillo, Port Hueneme, Santa Paula and Simi Valley.

In Santa Paula, where overall crime dropped by about 18%, the violent crime rate jumped because of a sharp increase in felony assaults.

“We had a nice drop in overall crime, but the assault figures are of concern,” Chief Walt Adair said.

He attributed the overall drop to fewer residents being teenagers or in their early 20s--the most crime-prone years.

The state’s “three strikes law” has helped clear the streets of repeat criminals, and stiffer prison sentences for carrying guns have also helped, he said.

“But you can’t ignore the support we get from the community,” Adair said.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

County Crime Trends, 1992-97

Crime Overall

Decreased: Serious crimes have dropped 25% since 1992, with crime rates falling in all 10 local cities. Crime fell most in Simi Valley, Santa Paula and Thousand Oaks.

Context: The county remans one of the safest urban areas in the U.S. Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks are the two safest large cities.

Crimes per 1,000 residents:

1992: 42.7

1993: 38.3

1994: 36.9

1995: 35.1

1996: 32.5

1997: 30.7

Violent Crime

Decreased: Violent crime has dropped 28% since 1992.

Oxnard’s 35% drop represents 572 fewer violent incidents, but the city still accounts for about 41% of the county’s violent crime.

Context: The county’s violent crime is lower than at any time since the early 1970s.

Crimes per 1,000 residents:

1992: 5.5

1993: 4.8

1994: 4.7

1995: 4.3

1996: 4.1

1997: 3.6

Property Crime

Decreased: Property crime has dropped 25% since 1992.

Thefts were off most in Ventura and Santa Paula.

Context: Property crime rates are also at their lowest since the early 1970s.

Crimes per 1,000 residents:

1992: 37.2

1993: 33.5

1994: 32.2

1995: 30.8

1996: 28.4

1997: 27.1

Ventura County Crime Statistics

CAMARILLO (population 58,500)

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City/ Felony Auto year Homicide Rape Robbery Assault Burglary Theft theft Arson 1994 0 10 25 66 184 752 119 20 1995 1 9 32 80 286 1,098 163 10 1996 0 0 26 66 469 565 109 7 1997 1 7 23 84 435 652 85 9

Crimes City/ per 1,000 year Total people 1994 1,176 20.1 1995 1,679 27.8 1996 1,242 21.2 1997 1,296 22.1

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FILLMORE (population 12,850)

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City/ Felony Auto year Homicide Rape Robbery Assault Burglary Theft theft Arson 1994 0 2 5 41 110 152 19 3 1995 1 2 4 52 94 163 25 6 1996 0 2 4 44 110 142 28 3 1997 0 1 11 35 130 180 12 5

Crimes City/ per 1,000 year Total people 1994 332 25.8 1995 347 27.2 1996 333 25.9 1997 374 29.1

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MOORPARK (population 28,400)

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City/ Felony Auto year Homicide Rape Robbery Assault Burglary Theft theft Arson 1994 2 5 13 38 140 287 42 3 1995 2 3 6 48 125 294 56 6 1996 1 7 11 42 226 198 34 10 1997 0 4 10 30 201 224 28 10

Crimes City/ per 1,000 year Total people 1994 530 19.2 1995 540 19.4 1996 529 18.6 1997 507 17.8

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OJAI (population 8,050)

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City/ Felony Auto year Homicide Rape Robbery Assault Burglary Theft theft Arson 1994 0 2 4 26 77 162 22 5 1995 0 2 6 28 76 191 14 2 1996 0 1 1 24 78 133 9 8 1997 0 5 2 15 76 147 7 1

Crimes City/ per 1,000 year Total people 1994 298 36.6 1995 319 38.1 1996 254 31.3 1997 253 31.4

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OXNARD (population 152,800)

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City/ Felony Auto year Homicide Rape Robbery Assault Burglary Theft theft Arson 1994 8 29 404 1,073 1,794 3,625 1,015 51 1995 11 65 419 948 1,335 4,102 891 19 1996 16 57 460 849 1,255 4,332 941 24 1997 5 61 518 470 1,238 4,370 956 28

Crimes City/ per 1,000 year Total people 1994 7,999 51.7 1995 7,790 50.4 1996 7,934 51.9 1997 7,646 50.0

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PORT HUENEME (population 22,500)

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City/ Felony Auto year Homicide Rape Robbery Assault Burglary Theft theft Arson 1994 2 6 40 83 217 374 59 5 1995 0 3 38 67 160 399 50 1 1996 0 9 30 63 187 429 51 4 1997 1 7 36 65 212 482 79 4

Crimes City/ per 1,000 year Total people 1994 786 36.1 1995 718 33.0 1996 773 34.8 1997 886 39.4

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SANTA PAULA (population 26,500)

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City/ Felony Auto year Homicide Rape Robbery Assault Burglary Theft theft Arson 1994 3 9 43 113 307 841 86 7 1995 0 10 54 114 317 720 88 11 1996 3 6 65 79 300 730 102 5 1997 2 3 44 113 326 492 68 11

Crimes City/ per 1,000 year Total people 1994 1,409 52.5 1995 1,314 48.5 1996 1,290 48.6 1997 1,059 39.9

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SIMI VALLEY (population 103,700)

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City/ Felony Auto year Homicide Rape Robbery Assault Burglary Theft theft Arson 1994 1 9 39 169 651 1,833 418 33 1995 4 12 57 123 626 1,759 327 33 1996 1 12 38 105 460 1,532 253 34 1997 5 15 48 115 503 1,257 204 25

Crimes City/ per 1,000 year Total people 1994 3,153 30.5 1995 2,941 28.4 1996 2,435 23.3 1997 2,172 20.9

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THOUSAND OAKS (population 112,800)

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City/ Felony Auto year Homicide Rape Robbery Assault Burglary Theft theft Arson 1994 1 19 64 215 511 1,814 330 36 1995 0 19 59 172 454 1,768 310 38 1996 3 9 64 156 447 1,616 252 72 1997 1 16 36 133 412 1,409 204 26

Crimes City/ per 1,000 year Total people 1994 2,990 26.6 1995 2,820 24.6 1996 2,619 23.4 1997 2,237 19.8

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VENTURA (population 100,000)

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City/ Felony Auto year Homicide Rape Robbery Assault Burglary Theft theft Arson 1994 5 23 141 259 1,295 3,152 431 40 1995 1 24 119 182 1,141 2,740 407 28 1996 6 27 148 228 958 2,360 387 36 1997 4 32 112 232 977 2,156 300 31

Crimes City/ per 1,000 year Total people 1994 5,323 54.8 1995 4,642 46.1 1996 4,150 40.8 1997 3,844 38.4

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UNINCORPORATED (population 90,700)

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City/ Felony Auto year Homicide Rape Robbery Assault Burglary Theft theft Arson 1994 6 16 70 206 557 915 165 31 1995 6 17 35 253 555 1,067 183 36 1996 3 21 24 219 701 583 122 41 1997 6 22 23 188 624 689 128 41

Crimes City/ per 1,000 year Total people 1994 1,966 21.1 1995 2,152 22.9 1996 1,714 18.7 1997 1,721 18.9

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COUNTYWIDE (population 716,800)

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City/ Felony Auto year Homicide Rape Robbery Assault Burglary Theft theft Arson 1994 28 141 831 2,313 5,836 14,070 2,725 235 1995 26 166 829 2,067 5,169 14,310 2,514 190 1996 34 152 870 1,887 4,599 13,246 2,447 242 1997 25 173 863 1,480 5,134 12,058 2,071 191

Crimes City/ per 1,000 year Total people 1994 26,179 36.9 1995 25,262 35.1 1996 23,314 32.5 1997 21,989 30.7

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Source: Ventura County Sheriff’s Department and Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Santa Paula, Simi Valley and Ventura police departments; population estimates for 1997are from the California Department of Finance