County-Area Crime Is at 25-Year Low, Sheriff Says

The rate of murders, rapes, felony assaults and other serious crime hit a 25-year low in 1998 for areas patrolled by the Sheriff’s Department, officials reported Friday.

The 1998 crime rate of 19.2 per 1,000 residents is less than half the 1973 rate of 43.0, the sheriff reported.

The rate of serious crime slipped an average 7% from 1997 to 1998 in Thousand Oaks, Camarillo, Ojai, Fillmore, Moorpark and unincorporated areas of the county.

The most dramatic reduction was 24% in Moorpark, while Thousand Oaks had an 11% drop. Crime rates were off 5% in Ojai and 1% in Camarillo.

Fillmore, meanwhile, had a 12% jump--after an 11% hike the previous year.

The drops, said Sheriff’s Capt. Keith Parks, ensure the county will remain the safest urban area in the West when FBI crime statistics are released next fall.

“As a region, Ventura County is a very safe area,� Parks said. “And a big part of that is because of the mentality of the people who live here that crime will not be tolerated.� Violent crime overall fell 13%, from 664 incidents in 1997 to 578 last year. The biggest reduction was in felony assault, which dropped from 490 to 403. Rapes declined from 60 to 48. Robberies rose from 106 to 121.

Homicides also fell, from eight in 1997 to six in 1998.

High-profile murder cases, however, sparked “widespread community concern,� Parks noted. Those included the slaying of two teenagers--14-year-old Kali Manley, who was found strangled on Pine Mountain in December, and Melinda Brown, a 19-year-old who was fatally shot last November and discovered in the Hungry Valley area.

The local reduction in crime parallels similar trends throughout California and the nation.

One reason for the continuing drop can be attributed to demographics, authorities said. The segment of the population most likely to commit crimes--17- to 25-year-olds--is smaller than it has been in years.

“Whenever that group is smaller, your crimes are probably going to drop,� Parks said.

Some crimes did increase. Not only were robberies up 14%, but residential burglaries inched up 5%.

Parks blamed a suspected serial burglar for the jump in home thefts.

“It just shows you how one person can have an impact on the crime rate,� Parks said. “If you have one person who comes in and does 100 burglaries, it really can have a tremendous impact.�

While Fillmore experienced the only increase in crime rate, most of its 12% increase was due to a sharp increase in property offenses. By contrast, the city has had no murders in the last two years.