Crime Rate Continues to Drop, Sheriff Says

The crime rate continues to fall in areas patrolled by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department to levels not seen since the 1960s, according to midyear statistics released Thursday.

But the overall good news within the sheriff’s jurisdiction--which includes Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Camarillo, Fillmore and Ojai--was tempered by a small increase in violent crime.

In separate figures released by the county’s largest city, the Oxnard Police Department reported Thursday that a series of mostly gang-related slayings in the first half of the year has tarnished a five-year decline in overall crime there.

Eleven people have been killed in Oxnard through June 30, the same number in all of 1995 and one more than the total killed in 1994. The increase in homicide represents a 175% jump over the number of people killed during the same January-through-June period last year, the figures show.

By contrast, in the sheriff’s jurisdiction there were two homicides through June 30, the same number of killings as during the first six months of last year.

According to the latest figures released by the county sheriff, overall crime has dropped about 9.5% over the first six months of the year when compared with the same period last year. These crime statistics cover homicide, rape, assault, robbery, burglary and auto theft.

The figures show that while there are significant drops in burglaries and car thefts--pushing down the overall crime rate--there have been slight increases in reported rape and assault cases.

The number of rapes in the first half of 1996 in the sheriff’s jurisdiction increased by one to 27 when compared to the same period in 1995. Assaults went up from 283 to 292, and homicides remained the same, with two.

Contributing to the rise, Thousand Oaks--which last year was ranked the third safest city in the nation by the FBI--had a 31% jump in violent crime, said Ventura County Sheriff’s Cmdr. Kathy Kemp, who heads up the division that patrols Thousand Oaks.

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“One of the main things this shows is that we may have some problems with being the safest city,” Kemp said. “There may be some complacency we need to take care of. . . . As far as statistics are concerned, are we the safest city? We may experience a slight drop, but we’re still one of the safest communities in the country.”

Thousand Oaks’ 1995 crime rate was the city’s lowest in 22 years, Kemp said, adding that overall crime has been decreasing over the last several years.

“Some of the occurrences we had at the [now defunct Stargate nightclub] contributed to the number of aggravated assaults,” she said. “But that club is closed now, so that should cease to be a problem.”

The Sheriff’s Department waged an intense campaign against the nightclub-restaurant that ended when the City Council revoked Stargate’s permits to sell liquor and allow dancing.

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While downplaying the importance of such a short-term look at overall crime, Ventura County Sheriff Larry Carpenter said any increase in violent crime concerns him.

“Those are important, because even though they are small changes they have an effect on the quality of life on individual people and their feelings about whether they are safe,” Carpenter said. “Overall, though, Ventura County is a very safe place to live. I know that a lot of surrounding counties would be envious of our crime figures.”

In Oxnard, Police Chief Harold Hurtt said the huge jump in homicides in his city is troubling even though Oxnard seems to be on track to report a declining crime rate for the fourth year in a row.

“We’re definitely pleased by this downward trend, but we are not satisfied with where we’re at by any stretch of the imagination, especially in the area of homicides,” he said.

About half the slayings in Oxnard this year have been attributed to gang violence, and Hurtt said he hopes to combat local gang violence with continued gang unit patrols and the use of random probation sweeps.

“If you get some of these individuals off the street through probation violations, then of course they won’t be involved in criminal activity within the city,” he said.

Last year, Oxnard was ranked as the 51st safest city in the nation--safer than Anaheim but not quite as safe as San Jose.

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The good news Thursday was that Oxnard has had a significant decline in several other areas of violent crimes. Assaults are down 47% from the same period last year, records show, and rapes are down 10%.

Declines in overall crime dropped the rate about 5% over the same period last year, which marks one of the lowest crime rates the city has seen in almost 25 years.

Although police officials emphasize that the numbers cannot be used to extrapolate a 12-month figure for crime, the large number of killings in the city so far is comparable to 1979, when a record number 25 people were killed in Oxnard.

During the last two decades, the city has had periods of up to seven months in which no slayings have occurred, and short periods of time in which several have occurred, said David Keith, a spokesman for the department.

The city’s 12th and 13th victims died in violent gang confrontations since July 1, but those killings were not included in the midyear figures.

At least six of the victims included in the midyear report were under the age of 17, killed in gang-related confrontations.

The youngest victim of gang violence was 13-year-old Anthony Roseby, stabbed 10 times in the back April 16 in front of Haydock Intermediate School.

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On Aug. 16, 46-year-old Manuel Ortiz Amaro was the latest victim of the violence in the city--shot to death in front of a house in the La Colonia neighborhood of Oxnard.

Although half the killings are attributed to gang violence, the other homicides are attributed to a morbid mix of causes, including child abuse, spousal abuse and a suicidal man angry with his girlfriend over their breakup.

The youngest victim in the city was Joselyn Hernandez. The 2-year-old died June 24 from what authorities called battered children’s syndrome after repeated blows to the stomach.

“I don’t think we can take a six-month period and make any conclusions from that,” Keith said, referring to the large increase in this year’s homicides. “If it keeps up over two or three years, that’s a different matter.”

The department has also become involved in several crime intervention programs, including one with the Ventura County Probation Department that targets preteen juvenile offenders.

The impetus for that program is a study that shows that about 8% of the juvenile offenders account for the majority of juvenile crimes. It targets youths when they first begin to get into trouble and will, organizers hope, avert more troublesome criminal behavior by working with the youths, their teachers and parents.

“But that’s the long term,” Hurtt said. “We’ve still got fires to put out on a day-to-day basis. The city deserves better than to worry about these senseless acts of violence.”

Times staff writer Miguel Bustillo and correspondent David R. Baker contributed to this story.

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Midyear Crime Statistics

The crime figures for the first half of 1996, and the corresponding 1995 figures, are from the Oxnard Police Department and Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. The sheriff’s includes the cities of Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Fillmore, Camarillo and Ojai, and the unincorporated portions of the county.

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Jurisdiction Homicide Rape Assault Robbery Oxnard 1995 4 31 597 210 1996 11 28 318 216 % change +175% -10% -47% +3% Thousand Oaks 1995 0 8 75 30 1996 1 8 100 39 % change n/a 0 +33 +30% Moorpark 1995 1 3 25 2 1996 1 6 27 6 % change 0 +100% +8% +200%

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Burglary Theft Vehicle theft Total Oxnard 1995 682 2,108 470 4,102 1996 606 2,256 454 3,889 % change -11% +7% -3% -5% Thousand Oaks 1995 426 667 161 *1,382 1996 440 631 148 *1,415 % change +3% -5% -8% *2% Moorpark 1995 105 125 30 *294 1996 105 101 17 *268 % change 0 -19% -43% *-9%

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Total Sheriff’s Department jurisdiction

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Jurisdiction Homicide Rape Assault Robbery 1995 2 26 283 68 1996 2 27 292 69 % change 0 +4% +3% +1.5%

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Burglary Theft Vehicle theft Total 1995 754 n/a 591 n/a 1996 698 n/a 554 n/a % change -7% n/a -6% *-9.5%

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* These figures include arson totals, which are not shown.

Source: Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, Oxnard Police Department