3 Cities See Increase in Violence During 2000

Violent crime in Ventura, Simi Valley and Oxnard rose through 11 months of 2000, even as overall crime rates dropped in four of five cities.

A Times analysis of crime statistics for January through November in the cities with their own police departments showed violent crime increased 19.9% in Ventura, followed by Simi Valley with a nearly 13% jump. Oxnard’s violent crime rate increased 3%.

The overall crime rate in four of five cities with their own police departments dropped from 1999--with Ventura being the exception, records show.

In Ventura, 3,449 crimes were committed through Nov. 30, an increase of 26.2% over the same period in 1999. Of that number, homicides, rapes, robberies and felony assaults jumped by 19.9% to 361 in 2000.

Police Chief Mike Tracy said after such historically low numbers in the past decade, the crime rate was bound to go up. Part of Ventura’s increase, Tracy said, is due to more accurate ways to record police reports.

“We know that we are capturing more crimes. We are taking a report over the phone,” Tracy said. “Before, we sent a report form in the mail and we didn’t get all of those back.”

Although a jump in the number of rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults accounted for much of Simi Valley’s increase in violent crime, overall crime was down for the same period to 13.4 incidents per 1,000 residents.

While he called the increase in some crimes a concern, Simi Valley Police Capt. Tony Harper cautioned against reading too much into the crime statistics from one year to the next.

More important, Harper said, is “to apply resources when you articulate the trend of the crime,” which can be done only over a period of years. A 13% increase in violent crime across Simi Valley does not necessarily mean a sweeping crime wave, he said.

Overall crime continued a decade-long drop in Simi Valley, with 1,514 crimes through November, compared with 1,699 for the same period in 1999.

Oxnard Police Chief Art Lopez said he’s optimistic the city’s recent break from the gang violence of last fall will continue. It was that rash of shootings in late October and into mid-December that boosted Oxnard’s violent crime rate by 3% in 2000 over 1999.

Lopez said Oxnard has targeted areas with high concentrations of crime, particularly where gang-related crimes have been a problem.

Overall crime in Oxnard, which included arson, burglary, theft and auto theft, fell 4.7% in 2000.

The five city police departments will release complete 2000 crime statistics later this month or in early February. Statistics through November for the cities covered by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department--Ojai, Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Camarillo and Fillmore--will be available in February, sheriff’s officials said.

Port Hueneme officials provided 12-month comparisons for 2000 and 1999.

In 2000, a total of 11,482 crimes tracked by the FBI, everything from homicide and rape to burglary and auto theft, were committed in the five cities with their own police departments. In 1999, the number was 11,430.

The FBI defines violent crime as criminal homicide, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault. The FBI’s overall list of serious crimes also includes burglary, theft, automobile theft and arson.

Increases in the number of violent crimes, combined with signs that the economy may be slowing, have raised concerns among several police officials in the county.

While the bigger cities watched their crime numbers rise, the county’s two smallest cities with their own police departments recorded drops in crime from 1999.

Santa Paula’s overall crime rate dropped by 16% in 2000 and violent crime fell by 62%.

But Police Chief Bob Gonzales called those statistics somewhat misleading. In 1999, Santa Paula had no homicides, but it had three in 2000.

Despite the lower crime rate, Gonzales said he will ask for six more officers for his 29-member department when the City Council writes the next budget in the spring.

In Port Hueneme, interim Police Chief Fernando Estrella said despite an overall crime drop of 9% in 2000, the rise in burglaries has him concerned.

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Ventura County Crime Statistics

City: OXNARD (population 160,305)

Year: 1999

Homicide: 5

Rape: 32

Robbery: 334

Felony assault: 425

Burglary: 934

Theft: 3,207

Auto theft: 515

Arson: 30

Total: 5,482

Crimes per 1,000 people: 34.50

*

Year: 2000

Homicide: 10

Rape: 52

Robbery: 357

Felony assault: 402

Burglary: 856

Theft: 3,108

Auto theft: 409

Arson: 34

Total: 5,238

Crimes per 1,000 people: 32.61

PORT HUENEME* (population 23,478)

Year: 1999

Homicide: 0

Rape: 13

Robbery: 32

Felony assault: 142

Burglary: 137

Theft: 331

Auto theft: 37

Arson: 1

Total: 693

Crimes per 1,000 people: 30.51

*

Year: 2000

Homicide: 1

Rape: 7

Robbery: 29

Felony assault: 90

Burglary: 191

Theft: 210

Auto theft: 42

Arson: 4

Total: 574

Crimes per 1,000 people: 24.44

SANTA PAULA (population 27,255)

Year: 1999

Homicide: 1

Rape: 9

Robbery: 38

Felony assault: 106

Burglary: 282

Theft: 308

Auto theft: 70

Arson: 10

Total: 824

Crimes per 1,000 people: 30.26

*

Year: 2000

Homicide: 3

Rape: 2

Robbery: 35

Felony assault: 56

Burglary: 265

Theft: 292

Auto theft: 47

Arson: 7

Total: 707

Crimes per 1,000 people: 25.94

SIMI VALLEY (population 113,023)

Year: 1999

Homicide: 1

Rape: 11

Robbery: 24

Felony assault: 81

Burglary: 383

Theft: 987

Auto theft: 161

Arson: 52

Total: 1,699

Crimes per 1,000 people: 15.53

*

Year: 2000

Homicide: 1

Rape: 18

Robbery: 44

Felony assault: 69

Burglary: 360

Theft: 860

Auto theft: 122

Arson: 40

Total: 1,514

Crimes per 1,000 people: 13.39

VENTURA (population 103,505)

Year: 1999

Homicide: 3

Rape: 17

Robbery: 81

Felony assault: 200

Burglary: 588

Theft: 1,617

Auto theft: 193

Arson: 33

Total: 2,732

Crimes per 1,000 people: 26.59

*

Year: 2000

Homicide: 3

Rape: 19

Robbery: 97

Felony assault: 242

Burglary: 651

Theft: 2,200

Auto theft: 206

Arson: 31

Total: 3,449

Crimes per 1,000 people: 33.32

*Figures are for the first 11 months of 1999 and 2000, except for Port Hueneme, which provided 12-month figures.

Sources: Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Santa Paula, Simi Valley and Ventura police departments. Population figures from the UCSB Economic Forecast Project.