Ventura County Sheriff's Department

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department’s end of year Part I crime statistics for 2008 are now available. Significant details are as follows:

When compared to 2007, the total Part I crime rate per 1,000 population for the entire Sheriff’s jurisdiction decreased from 17.30 in 2007 to 16.34 in 2008. This represents a decrease of 6%.

The total Part I violent crime rate per 1,000 population had a very slight increase from 1.51 in 2007 to 1.53 in 2008, an increase of 1% (or a numerical increase of 11 more total Part I violent crimes).
Within this grouping, robbery increased from 0.31 robberies per 1,000 in 2007 to 0.37 robberies per 1,000 in 2008. In actual numbers, there were 22 more reported robberies in the Sheriff’s jurisdiction in 2008 versus 2007.

Rape had a slight increase of 0.14 per 1,000 in 2007 to 0.15 per 1,000 in 2008. There were five more reported rapes in 2008 when compared to 2007. An analysis of the reported rapes showed that in 80% of the cases the victim and the offender knew each other. In 41% of the cases alcohol or drugs had been used by the victim. In all cases, the victims were female, and in all cases where gender was established, the suspect was male.
Homicide (murder and non-negligent manslaughter) increased from 0.01 per 1,000 in 2007 to 0.02 per 1,000 in 2008. There were four homicides in the Sheriff’s jurisdiction in 2007 and eight in 2008. The average number of homicides in the Sheriff’s jurisdiction since 1990 is approximately 7.7. Of the eight homicides in 2008, four were gang-related and two additional are possibly gang-related. The Sheriff’s Gang Unit continues to aggressively focus on gang-related investigations and enforcement. Since its re-formation in February 2007, the Sheriff’s Gang Unit has made over 400 arrests, confiscated approximately 90 guns from gang members, served over 150 search warrants, and conducted hundreds of probation/parole searches. The Department believes that some homicides as well as other violent acts were more than likely prevented due to aggressive gang enforcement.
Aggravated assault decreased from 1.06 per 1,000 in 2007 to 0.99 in 2008. There were 20 fewer aggravated assaults in 2008.

The total Part I property crime rate per 1,000 population decreased from 15.78 per 1,000 population in 2007 to 14.81 in 2008, a decrease 6%. There were 294 total fewer Part I property crimes in 2008. Within this grouping, all categories showed decreases except for arson and residential burglary. Property crime accounted for approximately 91% of all reported Part I crime in 2008.

The overall decrease in Part I property crime is believed to be the result of directed enforcement efforts, targeted investigations, and strong community efforts to reduce the chances of victimization. Part of the directed enforcement effort involved an increase in probation/parole searches in the second half of 2008. Another contributing factor to the property crime decrease was the decline in commodity prices in the latter portion of the year, which reduced the profitability of recycling stolen items containing recyclable metals.
The above data as well as individual breakdowns for the Sheriff’s contract cities and unincorporated areas are available on the Sheriff’s website at http://www.VCSD.org