Safer at Home

Most Ventura County residents should take comfort from two recent reports documenting that the area’s already low crime rate continues to fall. Despite a few high-profile homicides and a flurry of bank robberies, the county and most of its cities are blessedly free of those sorts of assaults on public peace and peace of mind.

Figures released last week by the California Department of Justice show that crime plummeted nearly 14% in Ventura County’s four largest cities during 1999, surpassing a statewide decrease of 13.2%.

Ventura saw by far the largest drop in crime, 18.2%, ranking it 21st among the 76 California cities with populations larger than 100,000. Oxnard had the county’s second-steepest rate decline, falling nearly 13%, while violent crimes such as homicide, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault fell 8.9%.

Thousand Oaks reported only 5.5 crimes per 1,000 people, a bit better than Simi Valley’s 6.1 per 1,000. Overall crime dropped 10% in Simi Valley, while violent crimes fell by more than 27%. Those two neighbor cities traditionally jockey for the title of the nation’s safest city.

Another report, this one covering territory patrolled by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department including the cities of Thousand Oaks, Camarillo, Ojai, Fillmore, Moorpark and unincorporated areas, showed the crime rate dropping to its lowest point in more than 25 years.

Low crime does not mean no crime. Although Simi Valley reported the steepest drop in violent crime among the county’s four largest cities, police have been stymied by a suspected serial rapist who has attacked 12 women since 1996.

And Thousand Oaks has suffered six bank robberies just since the beginning of this year--double last year’s total. But in all, Ventura County residents can breathe easy.

Law enforcement leaders cite citizen academies, Neighborhood Watch groups and increased patrols for this welcome trend. Another key in increased attention to crime prevention programs aimed at young people.

Since Oxnard opened a Police Activities League for teenagers in 1995, violent crime among that age group has dropped each year, Oxnard Police Sgt. Marty Meyer told The Times.

“Most teen violent crime happens between 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.,” he said. “Our centers are open from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., so we’ve really taken a bite out of that.”

Preventive programs like that are a far better strategy than heavy-handed prosecution of juveniles for ensuring that this downward trend continues.