Usual Suspects Top List of Nation’s Safest Cities

A college town in suburban Buffalo and local rival Simi Valley pushed Thousand Oaks from the top position among the nation’s safest large cities, according to an analysis of FBI statistics released Sunday.

Featuring an affluent, white-collar population similar to eastern Ventura County, Amherst Town, N.Y., was the most crime-free urban area in the United States in the first half of 1998, FBI and census figures show.

The statistics also showed that crime fell 5% nationwide for the first six months of 1998, compared with the same period last year.

By comparison, reported offenses were down 18.3% in Amherst Town, and 3.3% in Simi Valley. They were up 4.4% in Thousand Oaks, largely because of about 40 thefts attributed to a serial burglar who was caught in June, officials said.

The crime report, which covers cities with populations of at least 100,000, fuels the good-natured competition between Simi and Thousand Oaks. Both upscale communities use the rankings to lure big companies, and real estate agents publish the results in sales brochures.

“It’s a friendly rivalry, I guess. Every time we meet at a function we rub it in a little,” Simi Valley Mayor Bill Davis said. “We don’t expect to be No. 1 every year, or No. 2. But, by golly, we’d better stay in the first three.”

Thousand Oaks was the safest large city in the U.S. in 1997, and either Thousand Oaks or Simi has ranked first for seven of the last 10 years. Amherst Town was first the other three years.

For the first half of 1998, California cities grabbed eight of the top 10 places nationwide. All 10 cities are high-income suburbs.

The statistics include crimes in seven categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, theft and auto theft.

Oxnard, the only other city in Ventura County included in the comparisons, also rated highly, with a crime rate of 23.5 offenses per 1,000 residents--about half the national average. That compares with 8.7 per 1,000 residents in Amherst Town, 9.3 in Simi Valley and 9.9 in Thousand Oaks.

Although it now has a population of more than 100,000, the city of Ventura is not yet included in the FBI’s report on large cities.

Among all local cities, Moorpark, with 28,000 residents, consistently ranks as the county’s safest, marginally ahead of Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley. That puts the county’s three safest communities in the east county.

“We look at that and say, boy if we can keep the east county that safe, we’re doing a good job,” Davis said.

Although edged by Amherst Town for national bragging rights, Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks experienced sharp decreases in violent crime.

With murders falling from 4 to 1, and robberies down from 23 to 18, violent offenses declined 10% in Simi Valley. In Thousand Oaks, violent crime fell 23%, because of a large drop in felony assaults--from 69 to 49.

Crime as a whole went up in Thousand Oaks, largely because of the work of burglar Dennis W. Spangler, said sheriff’s Cmdr. Kathy Kemp, who functions as city police chief.

“We arrested the guy in June on about 40 burglaries,” Kemp said. “We had everyone out on that detail that day, and sure enough, we spotted a car that fit the suspect’s description. And here came Mr. Spangler, walking out with jewelry in his pocket.”

Spangler ultimately pleaded guilty to five counts of burglary.

“If you take pure statistics,” Kemp said, “a serial criminal can get you.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

America’s 10 Safest Cities

These are the lowest crime rates for cities with populations of 100,000 or more for the first six months of 1998:

*--*

Crimes per City Population 1,000 residents Amherst Town, N.Y. 112,431 8.72 Simi Valley 106,974 9.26 Thousand Oaks 113,368 9.86 Santa Clarita 125,153 11.50 Sunnyvale 125,156 13.65 Irvine 127,873 14.45 Rancho Cucamonga 116,613 15.01 Glendale 184,321 15.06 Orange 119,890 15.16 Livonia, Mich. 105,099 15.19

*--*

Source: FBI, U. S. Census Bureau