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Violent Crime Falls in Ventura as Thefts Rise

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Times Staff Writer

For years, the seaside city of Ventura has stood out when year-end crime statistics rolled in, recording Ventura County’s highest crime rate despite a steadily improving record against criminal violence.

The trend continued in 2003, with a stunning run-up in theft and burglary even as the bustling tourist mecca succeeded in its efforts to staunch violent crime.

Ventura held the line against gang violence that erupted in other west county communities last year, while registering the city’s lowest rate for serious violence in two decades. The number of felony assaults, often tied to youth gangs, dropped 14%. There were three homicides, compared with 22 in Oxnard.

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But a rash of burglaries, thefts and auto break-ins often attributed to drug users will likely mean that the beach town will retain the unwelcome distinction of having the highest crime rate among the 10 local cities.

“When people talk about Ventura having the highest crime rate in the county, the average citizen says, ‘Holy cow, crime is way up in Ventura,’ ” Police Chief Mike Tracy said.

“But people who live here know Ventura is a very safe city,” he said. “Ventura is one of the communities that I’d like to be dropped off in in the middle of the night, versus some other cities.”

With only the small cities patrolled by the Sheriff’s Department yet to report 2003 crime figures, Ventura’s overall crime rate is far higher than any other local city. Yet, Ventura’s violent crime rate is lower than that of Oxnard, Port Hueneme or Santa Paula and will likely be about average for the county.

Ventura’s overall crime rate was 40.6 crimes per 1,000 residents last year, up from 28.9 four years ago. By comparison, Oxnard’s crime rate last year was 30.6, while Port Hueneme’s was 25.2, Santa Paula’s was 20.3, Simi Valley’s was 17.5 and Thousand Oaks’ was 16.25.

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. Each crime is given the same weight; a homicide counts no more than a bike theft.

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Over the last four years, violent crime has plummeted nearly 22%, but property crime has spiraled upward almost 48%.

There were 73 fewer acts of violence in Ventura last year than in 1999, but there were also 1,285 more property offenses than four years ago, police reported.

“Our property crimes are up,” Tracy said. “But that’s largely because of Prop. 36. Where we used to arrest narcotics users and they were in jail for 90 days, today they’ll get a date with a counselor and remain on the street to commit crimes to support their habits.”

Proposition 36, a ballot initiative in 2000, took away a judge’s option to jail first- and second-time drug offenders who are deemed nonviolent and aren’t drug dealers. They are automatically ordered into treatment and remain free.

Because most of the county’s drug treatment programs are located in Ventura, the seat of county government, offenders frequent the city, Tracy said. “So they have exposure to our community to commit their crimes.”

Police said property crime was generally committed by thieves who cruised the city looking for opportunity.

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“For example, in one arrest at 3 a.m. on Channel Drive, we found property from a commercial burglary and from a variety of auto thefts in one car,” Tracy said. “That’s typical.”

Auto thefts increased from 263 in 2002 to 339 last year. But most of those thefts did not result in the loss of a vehicle to a so-called “chop shop,” where vehicles are disassembled for parts, police said. Most stolen autos were abandoned within the county, after an apparent joy ride by youths.

Many petty thefts come from shoplifting in areas such as the downtown corridor along Main Street and the Pacific View Mall, Tracy said.

Those areas, however, are not centers for auto burglaries, which increased from 648 to 920 in 2003 and accounted for nearly three-fourths of the total rise in thefts.

Those thefts happened across the city, and that’s why police stakeouts of high-traffic locations failed last year, Police Lt. John Garner said.

So this month, police have begun to concentrate not on locations but on the behavior of known thieves, Garner said.

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In addition to watching ex-convicts closely, police plan to work more with probation and parole officers to search suspects’ homes, hoping to find stolen property. Ex-convicts are often required to allow police to search their homes unannounced.

Officers have also been reassigned to anti-theft units, Garner said.

Last year, six detectives were assigned solely to such work. This month, a five-officer special enforcement squad has been created to handle the cases most of the time.

“We’ve historically put our efforts into crimes against persons,” Garner said. “Now we believe we need to put a little more effort into property crimes.”

Even as his department shifts emphasis, Tracy said he would keep in place a five-person anti-gang squad that has helped reduce violence in recent years.

“We’ve taken a holistic approach in dealing with gang violence,” he said. “We’ve gotten involved with the schools and the police activity league and the district attorney’s office. And our gang enforcement unit knows these kids. They’re out there talking to them. I’m pretty proud of that picture.”

Like agencies in other jurisdictions, the Police Department is working with a tightened budget, Tracy said. It has 126 sworn officers, down from a peak of 133 before state grants ran out -- about the same level as 1991-92, he said.

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At the same time, calls for service are up 40%, he said.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Crime comparison

Ventura crime is down from a peak of 59.4 offenses per 1,000 residents a decade ago to 40.6 in 2003. But during the last four years, crime has increased 40%, despite a drop in violent offenses.

*--* Felony Auto Total Year Homici Rape Robbery assault Burgla Theft theft Arson crimes de ry 1993 8 41 146 225 1,274 3,401 472 41 5,608

1999 3 19 94 218 649 1,795 211 33 3,022

2000 3 18 92 230 646 2,164 196 24 3,373

2001 2 28 91 160 565 2,280 231 13 3,370

2002 2 30 90 164 621 2,478 263 9 3,657

2003 3 21 96 141 764 2,855 339 15 4,234

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Source: Ventura Police Department

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