Violent Crime Up for 2nd Year in Camarillo

Violent crime in Camarillo jumped for the second straight year in 2002, but a drop in burglaries and thefts in the growing community reduced serious offenses to the lowest level in 14 years.

Overall, reports of serious offenses fell by 122, or 9.9%, last year, as nearly every category of property crime plummeted. Home burglaries dropped by nearly one-third, grand theft by 21% and auto theft by 15%.

But a 20% hike in serious violence in 2002 after a 36% increase the previous year put a damper on the city’s good news.

“We’re pretty pleased overall,” said Capt. Steve DeCesari of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, which acts as the city police force. “We had a large influence on the areas where we can.”

Violent crime is usually not one of those areas, he said, because violence is often among people who know each other -- acquaintances, friends, family members and dates.

And in exceedingly safe Camarillo, the number of violent offenses is so low that even a small uptick in crime makes for a large percentage increase. For example, serious violence in the city of 60,000 increased by just 20 incidents last year, but that equated to 20%. The increase was almost entirely among people who knew each other, not the type of random acts that can make urban streets frightening, DeCesari said.

Eleven of the 12 rape victims were assaulted by either a boyfriend or ex-boyfriend, he said. In the felony-assault category, up 15 incidents in a year, most were domestic attacks. “We had a couple more bar fights, but the majority of these assaults were where the victims and suspects knew each other,” DeCesari said. “And those are very hard to prevent.”

Overall, Camarillo police reported 1,106 serious crimes last year, down from a peak of 1,728 in 1991. The city’s crime rate, meanwhile, has fallen from 31.1 offenses per 1,000 residents to 18.59 last year, the lowest since the 1980s.

The 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.

Each crime is given the same weight, so a homicide counts no more than a bike theft. Camarillo’s greatest improvement was a 27-incident decline in home burglaries. At 62, residential burglaries reached a 30-year low, even though the city’s population has more than doubled in those decades.

“We’ve increased our patrols,” DeCesari said. “Most burglaries are done by people under the influence, and since we aggressively enforce [against] that crime, our burglaries are going down too.”

Alcohol and narcotics arrests were up significantly last year: Arrests for driving under the influence rose from 138 to 158, and narcotics arrests were up from 391 to 461.

The only property crime category to show an increase was vehicle burglaries, including those at Camarillo’s popular regional outlet mall, DeCesari said.

Auto burglaries increased by 10 to 161. Part of that was attributed to three high school boys who went on a spree before being caught.

“But our petty theft [offenders] tend to be from Oxnard and Los Angeles, especially during the holidays,” he said. “I think all of our [petty theft] arrests were from Los Angeles County.”

Citywide, arrests were up 11%, he said.

Identify theft, a problem that emerged as a major trend in 2001, remained a problem as criminals stole by using pilfered credit cards or checks.

After increasing by about 100 to 207 incidents two years ago, identity theft was reported at 163 last year.

Forgery, a crime sometimes related to identity theft, jumped from 104 to 194. “More and more, people are accessing computer information and stealing people’s identities,” DeCesari said.

Police also received complaints of theft from mailboxes.

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Crime comparison

Camarillo’s crime is down from a peak of 31.1 offenses per 1,000 residents 11 years ago to below 19 in 2002.

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Year: 1991

Homicide: 0

Rape: 12

Robbery:23

Felony assault: 68

Burglary: 487

Theft: 938

Auto theft: 188

Arson: 12

Total crimes: 1,728

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Year: 1999

Homicide: 3

Rape: 8

Robbery: 18

Felony assault: 70

Burglary: 234

Theft: 737

Auto theft: 58

Arson: 19

Total crimes: 1,147

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Year: 2000

Homicide: 0

Rape: 11

Robbery: 19

Felony assault: 45

Burglary: 189

Theft: 848

Auto theft: 44

Arson: 6

Total crimes: 1,162

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Year: 2001

Homicide: 0

Rape: 9

Robbery: 26

Felony assault: 67

Burglary: 186

Theft: 839

Auto theft: 80

Arson: 21

Total crimes: 1,228

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Year: 2002

Homicide: 1

Rape: 12

Robbery: 27

Felony assault: 82

Burglary: 153

Theft: 749

Auto theft: 68

Arson: 14

Total crimes: 1,106

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Source: Ventura County Sheriffs Department