SHERIFF REPORTS RISE IN SERIOUS CRIMES.Byline: Bhavna Mistry Staff Writer Serious crime rose 5.5 percent last year in areas covered by the Ventura County Sheriff's Department The Ventura County Sheriff's Department (VCSD) provides law enforcement for the unincorporated areas of Ventura County, California, USA, as well as several cities within the county. The cities that VCSD serves are Camarillo, Fillmore, Moorpark, Ojai, and Thousand Oaks. , although most categories of violent incidents showed double-digit declines, figures released Thursday show. Violent crimes in Ventura County - defined as homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault A person is guilty of aggravated assault if he or she attempts to cause serious bodily injury to another or causes such injury purposely, knowingly, or recklessly under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life; or attempts to cause or purposely or - dropped from 590 in 1999 to 560 last year, figures show. While the number of homicides fell from 11 to seven, the number of rapes reported increased from 40 to 57 - a 42.5 percent hike. Burglary, theft and arson cases edged up, from 5,302 to 5,329, figures show. So-called Part II crimes - which include simple assault, vandalism, weapons violations and traffic arrests, increased nearly 7 percent - from 18,153 to 19,410. ``Arrests were up 7 percent,'' Sheriff Bob Brooks said. ``It's one of the reasons we can hold crime down.'' Brooks attributed the increase in reported crimes to the high number of juveniles living in areas covered by the Sheriff's Department. In addition to unincorporated areas In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality. To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, i.e., a city or town with its own government. , deputies patrol Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. , Moorpark, Fillmore, Camarillo and Ojai. Crimes reported in Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. , Ventura, Santa Paula Santa Paula (săn`tə pôl`ə), city (1990 pop. 25,062), Ventura co., S Calif., on the Santa Clara River in a fertile valley that yields citrus fruits, avocados, vegetables, flowers, nursery products, and walnuts; laid out 1875, inc. , Oxnard and Port Hueneme Port Hueneme (wī'nē`mē), city (1990 pop. 20,319), Ventura co., S Calif., on the Pacific coast; founded 1870, inc. 1948. It has an artificial deep-sea harbor and is the site of a huge naval construction-battalion (Seabee) center. were not included in the report. In Thousand Oaks, violent crime rose 15.6 percent. The number of rapes skyrocketed from nine in 1999 to 23 last year. Authorities said 21 of the rapes were committed by an acquaintance of the victim and most also involved the use of controlled substances controlled substance n. a drug which has been declared by federal or state law to be illegal for sale or use, but may be dispensed under a physician's prescription. by the victims. ``We are not dealing with a serial rapist,'' said Cmdr. Keith Parks Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Rodney Park, GCB, KBE, MC and Bar, DFC, RAF (15 June 1892 - 6 February 1975) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force in the Second World War. , acting chief of Thousand Oaks police. ``All the suspects have been identified and all have been arrested with a few exceptions.'' Arson and vehicle burglaries also showed significant increases in Thousand Oaks. The number of vehicle break-ins rose from 156 to 210, and Parks attributed most of that 34.6 percent increase to a spree of burglaries in the parking lots of local health clubs. One suspect has been arrested, while another remains at large. ``One person can have a profound impact on vehicle burglaries,'' Parks said. ``We have taken fliers and posted them in the health clubs.'' Overall, crime in Thousand Oaks rose 4.6 percent, figures show. ``The important thing to remember is that the crime rate is very low,'' Parks said. ``It has so much to do with the community. They are doing Neighborhood Watch whether they call it that or not.'' In Moorpark, violent crime was down by 19.2 percent, with overall crime down nearly 11 percent. ``We have been with the community and identifying problem areas and creative solutions,'' said Capt. Bob LeMay, acting police chief. ``Hopefully we'll continue to see our crime rate go down.'' While violent crimes fell 22.2 percent in Camarillo - from 99 reported in 1999 to 77 reported last year - overall crime rose 2.1 percent. Fillmore reported a 25.5 percent increase in violent crime and a 32.6 percent increase in total crimes. CAPTION(S): chart Chart: VENTURA COUNTY CRIME STATISTICS Source: VENTURA COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT |
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