Crime in County Sheriff’s Jurisdictions Dips 1%

Despite an increase in property crimes in Thousand Oaks and Fillmore, crime in areas patrolled by the Sheriff’s Department remained virtually unchanged for the first half of 1998 compared with 1997, falling 1% overall, according to a report released Friday.

And while sheriff’s officials say that is good news for a county where the crime rate is typically low, they also note the goal is to do even better.

“We’re never satisfied,” said Capt. Keith Parks, spokesman for the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. “It’s unrealistic, but we’d love to have no crimes. No matter how low the number, crime is a critical issue to those affected by it.”

To reinforce his point, Parks cites a 57% drop in rape cases, from 37 in the first six months of 1997 to 16 for the same period in 1998.

“To those 16 people, those crimes are very real and they mean a lot,” Parks said. “So we want to work hard to keep that rate down and going lower.”

The sheriff’s midyear crime report includes the unincorporated portions of the county and the five cities under the department’s jurisdiction--Camarillo, Fillmore, Ojai, Moorpark and Thousand Oaks.

The numbers, which tracked crime between January and June, were favorable to the department on the whole, with violent crime dropping 12%.

But the good news was tempered with a report of property crimes rising 6%.

Affected the most by such crimes were Thousand Oaks and Fillmore, which experienced a 32% and 122% rise, respectively, in residential burglaries. Both cities blamed serial burglars, who have since been arrested, for the jump.

Authorities believe Dennis Wayne Spangler, who pleaded guilty earlier this month to five counts of burglary, is responsible for as many as 60 burglaries in east Ventura County homes.

“He definitely pumped up our burglary statistics,” said Cmdr. Kathy Kemp, who oversees the sheriff’s division that patrols Thousand Oaks. “A serial criminal can really do some damage to you.’

Capt. Christopher Godfrey with the Fillmore station said four gang members were rumored to be regularly stealing from homes in his area. Since the March arrest of two members on unrelated charges, he said, burglary rates have dropped.

Godfrey also said most of the thefts were unforced entries, meaning residents left their doors, windows and garages unlocked.

“Then these crimes become crimes of opportunity,” Godfrey said. “In a town like Fillmore, where there’s kind of a small-town feel, people believe they can trust their neighbors. So they’re not as careful as they should be.”

Thousand Oaks officials also blamed a jump in petty thefts, up 12%, to a rash of break-ins of coin-operated newspaper racks at 35 locations.

Camarillo had a few significant jumps of its own, with robbery climbing from nine in 1997 to 21 in 1998. Reports of fraud also rose significantly, increasing from 16 to 79.

But authorities warn against using the statistics to gauge how well or how poorly the department is doing in fighting crime.

“In the short term, they may or may not help you understand the big picture,” Parks said. “This is just a small snapshot. They are better for helping us track long-term trends.”

The numbers come less than two weeks after a similar report released by the Department of Justice, which tracked crime rates for California cities with populations of more than 100,000. In that study, crime fell 4% in the county’s largest cities--Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley and Ventura. Oxnard had a 2.6% increase in crimes, the report found.