Crime Report Shows Drop in County’s Larger Cities

Crime dipped more than 4% in Ventura county’s largest cities during the first six months of 1998, a slide that follows a statewide drop in crime of more than 9%, according to a report released Tuesday by the state Department of Justice.

Only Oxnard saw a jump in its crime numbers with a 2.6% increase, ranking it 26th among the 55 California cities considered in the study that measured municipalities with more than 100,000 population.

The level of crime in Thousand Oaks remained virtually unchanged in the first half of the year, ranking it as the state’s safest large city with only 3.32 crimes for every 1,000 residents. The city also holds the title as the nation’s safest city, according to an FBI study.

Simi Valley, where crime dipped 8.9%, came in a close second, with an average of 3.9 crimes per 1,000 residents. Ventura dropped 15.9% in overall crime, leaving it ranked 14th at 9.92 crimes per 1,000.

The decreases are in line with a statewide slump in violent crimes--including homicides and rapes--and property crimes, such as burglary and car thefts.

The study, known as the California Crime Index, focused on crime rates between Jan. 1 and June 30. The Department of Justice releases the index three times a year, tracking the state’s crime every six, nine, and twelve months.

While the state experienced fewer aggravated assaults for the first six months this year, Oxnard saw such attacks increase more than 13%. Aggravated assaults increased to 267, compared with 235 for the same period in 1997 .

David Keith, spokesman for the Oxnard Police Department, says many of those assaults are a result of arguments within the home.

“I think a lot of it is domestic violence-related,” Keith said. “We’ve noticed over the last three or four years a steady increase in the number of domestic violence cases” that are reported.

To combat the problem, Oxnard authorities have made domestic violence calls a priority, Keith said.

The city also had two additional homicides through June 30. Rapes and burglary rates, however, were down.

The news was better for Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks--two cities that traditionally battle it out for the title as the nation’s safest city.

Violent crimes fell more than 22% in Thousand Oaks, although burglaries increased to 225, compared with 188 last year. Senior Deputy Ed Tumbleson, a spokesman for the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, pointed to serial burglar Dennis Wayne Spangler, who pleaded guilty earlier this month to five counts of burglary. Authorities believe Spangler, 52, could be responsible for as many as 60 burglaries in east Ventura County homes.

The city’s reputation for safety has also had a strange side effect that contributes to property crimes, Tumbleson suggests.

“Because we are one of the safest cities, there can be a lot of apathy in the community,” he said. “People leave their doors open, leave things in their cars, thinking their neighbors won’t steal it. Well, their neighbors won’t, but maybe someone driving by will.”

Thousand Oaks is the only city in Ventura County that had no homicides in 1997 and none so far in 1998.

“You can’t do much better than that,” Tumbleson said.

Simi Valley dropped in nearly every category for violent crimes, with only rapes increasing from seven to eight over the same period last year. Police are looking for a serial rapist believed to be responsible for as many as five attacks in the city.

“When you are talking about a small number of crimes, then one person out there committing a number of crimes can make a significant difference. But we are still actively investigating that case. We have one person working full time on it,” said Lt. Neal Rein, a spokesman for the Simi Valley Police Department.

Ventura’s decrease in violent and property crimes left it nearly seven percentage points ahead of the states’ 9.2% drop. Violent crime in particular took on a significant downswing, falling nearly 21%

Ventura Police Lt. Carl Handy credited community policing programs for the dramatic dip. He also praised the state’s three-strikes law, which mandates a prison sentence of 25 years to life for repeat offenders. “There’s an increased consciousness that violence begets prison,” Handy said. “People who commit these serious offenses are going to go to prison.”

Dirmann is a Times staff writer and Wolcott is a Times Community News reporter. Times Community News reporter Massie Ritsch also contributed to this story.

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Crime Rates

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1997 1998 OXNARD Overall Crime 1,509 1,548 +2.6% Violent Crime 496 506 +2.0% Property Crime 1,013 1,042 +2.9% THOUSAND OAKS Overall Crime 385 384 -0.3% Violent Crime 99 77 -22.2% Property Crime 286 307 +7.3% SIMI VALLEY Overall Crime 446 408 -8.5% Violent Crime 92 83 -9.8% Property Crime 354 325 -8.2% VENTURA Overall Crime 889 747 -16.0% Violent Crime 211 167 -20.9% Property Crime 678 580 -14.5%

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