Crime Rate Climbs in 1st 6 Months

Despite a drop in homicides and rapes, the overall violent and property crime rate rose 9% during the first half of the year in the five cities and unincorporated areas patrolled by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

The number of homicides dropped from six to four, while the number of rapes declined from 26 to 22 between January and June, according to the department’s crime statistics. Robberies also dropped from 73 to 63 compared with the same period last year.

But an increase in the number of aggravated assaults, combined with a surge in property crimes such as petty and auto theft, caused the overall crime rate to go from 7.97 per 1,000 residents to 8.73.

“The message would be to tell people: ‘You need to lock your car doors,’ because most of those crimes are crimes of opportunity,” said Capt. Ron Nelson, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman.

The sheriff’s jurisdiction includes the cities of Camarillo, Fillmore, Moorpark, Ojai and Thousand Oaks as well as unincorporated county areas, with a total population of more than 346,000.

In Thousand Oaks, with 127,000 residents, the number of violent crimes dropped 9%, from 96 to 87. There were no homicides in the county’s second-largest city, which is routinely ranked among the nation’s safest. Property crimes fell 3%, from 899 to 875.

“While any amount of socially deviant criminal behavior is unacceptable, we recognize that when you deal with so many human beings it’s unavoidable,” Thousand Oaks Mayor Dennis Gillette said.

Gillette, a retired assistant sheriff and the city’s former police chief, said public safety is always the No. 1 priority. “If a city is not safe, then we as a government have failed,” he added.

Crime also fell in nearby Moorpark, with a population of 35,000. Violent and property crimes decreased 2%, with no homicides reported.

In Camarillo, a significant increase in petty theft, auto theft and aggravated assaults accounted for a 17% increase in serious crimes in the community of 64,000, records show. The overall crime rate increased from 9.09 per 1,000 residents to 10.43.

Crime also rose 28% in Fillmore, 34% in Ojai and 20% in the county’s unincorporated areas, which included four homicides, up from one the year before. Most of the increase in Fillmore, with a population of 15,000, and Ojai, with 8,000 residents, was attributed to a jump in property crimes.