Reported City Violent Crime Drops

Police chief says gangs moving criminal activity to valley’s unincorporated areas

By Daryl Kelley
Property crime in Ojai dropped dramatically during the first half of 2008 as petty thefts and auto burglaries plummeted, while violent crime remained at the same low level as the year before, according to a new police report.
Overall, Ojai experienced 92 serious crimes from January through June, compared with 148 for the same period last year and 139 for the first half of 2006, reported the county Sheriff’s Department, which polices Ojai and the rest of the Ojai Valley.
That’s a 38 percent overall drop in crime in Ojai from the first half 2007 compared with the same period this year.
Meanwhile, major property and violent crime in the rest of the valley was down slightly through the first six months of 2008 compared with 2007, despite a spike in gang activity in Meiners Oaks and Oak View.
In the city of Ojai, there were reports of only seven serious violent offenses — rapes, robberies and assaults (no murders) — during the first half of this year. But petty thefts were cut by more than half, from 87 to 38, accounting for most of the overall drop.
“Crimes of violence in the city remain low, at about the same level as last year” wrote Capt. Bruce Norris, who serves as Ojai police chief, in a report to the City Council. “As for property crimes, we saw a big decrease in thefts from vehicles.”
Early in 2007, the city was hit hard by thieves prowling for property in parked vehicles, and smashing windshields if the doors were locked, Norris reported. Several thieves were arrested in mid-2007 and convicted, he said.
Since then, “many fewer thefts from vehicles have been reported,” he wrote. “Within the last few weeks, however, we’ve had a repeat of these crimes. In several of those cases, the victims’ vehicles were unlocked, and they left valuables inside.
The biggest spike in Ojai crime came in felony vandalism, which rose from nine incidents in 2007 to 22 for the first half of this year. Misdemeanor vandalism also rose in the city, from 65 incidents to 69.
“Senseless damage” to property, such as vehicles and homes, accounted for much of the increase in felony vandalism, Norris reported. Some of the damage was done by graffiti, he said.
But the most significant development of the year may have been the near absence of gang violence inside Ojai city limits, Norris reported.
“The most telling thing I’ve noticed about city crime over the last year is that violent and assaultive gang activity is almost nonexistent,” he wrote. “For whatever reason, most of our Hispanic gang activity has moved out to the unincorporated areas. We are having the ‘normal’ levels of gang graffiti in town, but much of that seems to occur in Libbey Park. We’re enjoying the quiet for now, knowing that it might not last.”
But the story was different in valley areas outside the city, where assaults and vandalism were up sharply.
There, misdemeanor assaults rose from 33 to 43, and felony and misdemeanor vandalism increased from 86 incidents in the first six months last year to 120 for the same period this year.
“This appears to be the result of tensions between our local Hispanic gang and non-Hispanics from Oak View and Meiners Oaks,” Norris reported.
“There are only a few troublemakers on each side,” he wrote. “But those few require significant law enforcement attention. We have made repeated arrests of members of those groups, but their rivalry is strong and a long-term solution is difficult.”
Calls for police assistance were down slightly throughout the Ojai Valley.
In the city, there were 42 fewer disturbance calls and 34 fewer suspicious circumstance calls during the second quarter of 2008 alone. There were also 51 fewer property crime calls in the first six months of 2008.
In the county areas, there were 50 fewer theft calls during the first half of the year.
“My hunch is that the decreases are driven by less gang activity in the city, and possibly the effectiveness of Social Host Ordinance enforcement,” Norris wrote.
That 2-year-old ordinance carries a fine of $1,000 for anyone who allows underage drinking at a residence. So far, 11 city residents and 24 residents of the rest of the valley have been fined, the police chief said.
“We seem to be responding to fewer underage drinking party disturbance calls,” he said.