2002 Crime Rate Near Record Low in Simi Valley, Safest U.S. Big City

Crime in the safest large city in America ticked up for the third straight year in 2002, but the increase was so small that Simi Valley’s crime rate declined to a near-record low.

Indeed, after a particularly violent 2001, the Ventura County suburban enclave experienced a drop in many violent offenses last year as homicides fell from six to zero, rapes from 11 to seven and robberies from 37 to 26.

“We’re very, very pleased with these numbers, and the continuing pattern of having a very safe city,” Police Chief Mark Layhew said. “2001 was probably our worst year because of the number of homicides and deaths. Now we’re back to normal.”

Simi Valley saw crime tick upward 1.3% in 2002 from the previous year as felony assaults jumped by 12, or nearly 13%, and thefts increased by 60, or nearly 6%. But the crime rate of the fast-growing city of 115,500 residents is still nearly the lowest in the history of its Police Department.

Police reported 1,776 serious crimes last year, down from a peak of 3,556 in 1992.

A crime rate is a ratio of population to crimes reported by local police agencies to the FBI in eight categories -- homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, theft, auto theft and arson. Thus, it’s possible for the crime rate to fall even if the total number of incidents increases, due to increases in population. Each crime is given the same weight, so a homicide counts no more than a bike theft.

The rate of criminal offenses in Simi Valley last year was about 15 per 1,000 residents, compared with about 22 for all of Ventura County. The California crime rate was about 39 offenses per 1,000 residents, and the U.S. rate was nearly 42, in the most recent reports. Preliminary reports indicate sharp increases across the nation for 2002.

Simi Valley benefits not only from its white-collar affluence, but from involved citizens who aggressively report suspicious activity, Layhew said. Although crime hardly increased at all, Layhew said calls for service last year approached 40,000, up from about 36,000 a few years ago.

Among American cities with at least 100,000 residents, Simi Valley and a second Ventura County suburb, Thousand Oaks, were the most crime-free in 2001. The FBI has not yet reported large-city crime for 2002. Simi Valley or Thousand Oaks has ranked first for 11 of the previous 14 years.

The safest-city label resonates in Simi Valley, Layhew said.

“One of our top things is maintaining our safest-city designation,” he said. “It reflects well on the city. And the council is very supportive in our efforts to maintain a safe city.”

Most recently, the City Council approved spending $2.6 million to install laptop computers in police cruisers. That change, tying officers in the field to police computers, will take place in the next couple of weeks, Layhew said.

“Our officers will be able to run checks on cars and people and the number of calls for service at different locations right from their police cars,” the chief said.

In April, the department is also rolling out its Citizens on Patrol program, which will place civilians in two police cars to function as unarmed teams to watch for suspicious activity and report it.

“We have citizen volunteers in the station but not out in the field, so this in an enhancement,” Layhew said.

The department will also continue to operate its six-officer anti-gang unit at full size. That is particularly important because gang violence has increased in some other Ventura County cities, including Oxnard and Santa Paula, and historically such activities have spread from city to city.

Layhew said that hasn’t happened so far, and none of Simi Valley’s increase in serious assaults can be attributed to gang violence: There were 17 gang assaults in 2002, the same as the previous year. “There’s been no significant increase in gang activity,” he said.

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Crime statistics

Simi Valley’s crime is down from a peak of 34.5 offenses per 1,000 residents 11 years ago to about 15 in 2002.

*--* Hom- Rob- Felony Burg- Auto Total Year icide Rape bery assault lary Theft theft Arson crimes 1992 2 11 75 178 765 2,039 445 40 3,556 1999 0 11 24 81 383 987 161 52 1,699 2000 1 13 45 75 389 1,036 124 22 1,705 2001 6 11 37 93 361 1,040 192 13 1,753 2002 0 7 26 105 355 1,100 163 20 1,776

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Source: Simi Valley Police Dept.