Ventura County: Safest in the West

Ventura County remained the safest urban area in the West in 2002 despite its first crime rate increase in a decade, a precursor to this year’s surge in homicidal violence.

For the 10th consecutive year, the affluent suburban county on Los Angeles’ western flank had fewer crimes per person than any other area in the West with a population of at least 50,000, according to the FBI’s annual Uniform Crime Reports.

No urban area west of Wausau, Wis., had a lower crime rate, although nine others did nationally, most of them small cities or counties in New England.

Ventura County crime increased 3.9% last year, the FBI reported. Reports of major offenses are up again this year, authorities said, and homicides have doubled from last year to 41, the most since 1979.

“We’re losing ground, and some of the future possibilities are very troubling,” Sheriff Bob Brooks said.

Budget constraints have cost jobs in the Sheriff’s Department, and continuing antiterrorism responsibilities have sapped resources, Brooks said.

“It’s the third year we’ve reduced positions,” Brooks said.

Staffed with about 800 deputies eight years ago, his department has 698 today, the sheriff said.

Major trends in the last two years -- surging gang violence and drug-related thefts -- have also taxed law enforcement, he said.Local police chiefs agree that narcotics offenses involving petty thefts and violence are up because more drug offenders have stayed out of jail under Proposition 36, Brooks said. The 2000 ballot initiative took away judges’ option to jail first- and second-time drug offenders who are deemed nonviolent or are not dealers. They are automatically placed in treatment.

Killings in Oxnard stand at 21 so far this year, the highest since 27 people were killed in 1979, Police Chief Art Lopez said. Countywide, reported crime increased by 669 offenses last year to a total of 17,694. That equates to 22.7 crimes per 1,000 residents, which is low compared with a state rate of 39.4 and a national figure of 41.2.

Crime also remained far below the county’s all-time high of more than 30,000 in 1991. The decline reflects similar drops throughout California and the nation.

Crime rates reflect offenses in seven categories reported annually by the FBI: homicide, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, theft and auto theft. Each crime is given the same weight.

Overall, violent crime in Ventura County increased by just 13 offenses last year to 2,021. Two-thirds of the county’s increase is attributable to petty thefts.

Eight of Ventura County’s 10 cities saw crime increase, with the most dramatic rises in the smallest cities -- Fillmore, Port Hueneme and Ojai -- where offenses jumped from 14% to 36%.

Crime fell 14.5% in Moorpark, as felony violence plummeted nearly one-third. It also declined in Camarillo, as home burglaries dropped about one-third.

Among urban areas nationwide, Ventura County dropped from sixth-safest in 2001 to 11th this year.

In order, the most crime-free urban areas in the U.S. were: Danbury, Conn.; Stamford-Norwalk, Conn.; Johnston, Pa.; State College, Pa.; Steubenville, Ohio-Weirton, W.Va.; Dutchess County, N.Y.; Wausau, Wis.; Portsmouth-Rochester, N.H.; Middlesex-Somerset-Hunterdon, N.J.; and Lowell, Mass.

Elsewhere in Southern California, last year’s crime rates were: 36.1 offenses per 1,000 residents for San Diego County; 39.9 for Los Angeles County; 42.4 for Riverside-San Bernardino counties; and 27.9 for Orange County.

Among the nation’s metropolitan areas, Myrtle Beach in South Carolina had the nation’s highest crime rate, 80.8.