Overall Crime Rate Falls for 3rd Year

Crime reported in Oxnard fell for the third consecutive year in 1995, dropping 5.8% despite slight increases in slayings and robberies and a large increase in rapes.

Harold Hurtt, Oxnard’s chief of police, attributed the steady drop to community policing, citizen patrols and 31 new officers on the beat since 1993.

“We really are excited about it here,” Hurtt said. “We have been able to continue our downward trend.”

Last year’s crime rate--50.2 crimes reported per 1,000 residents--compares to a rate of 69.3 in 1994. And total crimes reported in seven basic categories compiled for the FBI have dropped from 10,065 to 7,770, nearly 23%, over the same period.

The number of homicides increased from 10 in 1994 to 11 in 1995, and reported rapes leaped 124% from 29 to 65. But Hurtt said the sharp rise in rapes is deceiving because rapes average 55 annually.

“Those crimes are against persons,” Hurtt said. “They usually happen behind closed doors. They can be hard to prevent except through awareness and education.”

And despite increases in three of four categories of violent crime, the city’s rate of violent offenses dropped 4.9% in 1995 because of a sharp drop in serious assaults. Hurtt credited the department’s anti-gang task force with helping to reduce aggravated assaults from 1,073 in 1994 to 947, off 11.7%.

Auto thefts declined by 12% in the same period.

In recent years, Oxnard has launched crime-fighting efforts that include opening two storefront police stations and expanding the number of citizen patrols from one neighborhood three years ago to 32.

Burglaries decreased while the thefts increased. But Hurt attributed the changes to the way the department categorizes thefts from automobiles.