Anti-Crime Efforts Pay Off

It’s no accident that crime has been on the decline for six straight years in Ventura County, making this the safest urban area in the West, according to FBI figures released last week.

One reason: Ventura County residents and their elected leaders support law enforcement at budget time.

Another: County residents are volunteering in record numbers to back up their local police with citizen patrols and other hands-on efforts.

“When you take a look at what’s happening out there you’ll see the importance of community policing,” said Sheriff Bob Brooks. “And it’s a countywide phenomenon.”

Oxnard alone has more than 1,000 people involved in citizen patrols, compared to only a few volunteers five years ago. The Sheriff’s Department has another 2,000 residents participating in Camarillo, Fillmore, Moorpark, Ojai and Thousand Oaks. The sheriff’s Citizen Academy puts volunteers through a 12-week training program, issues them uniforms (but not weapons) and deploys them to patrol neighborhoods and call in sworn officers when they spot potential lawbreakers.

These efforts have contributed to a nearly 6% drop to 22,030 offenses last year; the lowest crime rate in the western 13 states. The sharpest reductions were in Simi Valley, Santa Paula, Thousand Oaks and Ventura--and violent crime continued to drop in Oxnard.

Ventura County reported 30.5 crimes per 1,000 residents in 1997, down from 43.0 five years earlier and far below California’s statewide rate of 48.7 and the national rate of about 49 crimes per 1,000.

Even more impressive, the violent offenses of murder, rape, robbery and felony assault decreased about 13% in Ventura County last year, with the greatest improvements in Oxnard. The county’s rate of violent crimes is now less than half of California’s, one-third of Los Angeles County’s.

Statisticians note that crime has also declined across California and the nation in sync with a dip in the portion of the population in the high-crime-potential teens and 20s. That demographic lull is ending now and headed for another high, expected to peak in 2003 or 2004.

Along with increasing emphasis on prevention programs to steer young people away from crime, Ventura County residents are wise to support their police officers with their eyes, ears and volunteer time as well as with their tax dollars.