A Trend to Encourage

As the heart cringes from stunningly violent crimes like the slaying and dismemberment of Pedro Barragan and the ax murder of Sherri Dally, the brain gropes for comfort and context.

Fortunately, crime statistics offer both. Ventura County crime fell for the seventh straight year in 1998, dropping to levels not seen since 1969 and reinforcing our status as the safest urban area in the West.

The number of murders, rapes, felony assaults and other serious crimes reported in 1998 dropped to 20,028, down 9% from 1997 and one-third lower than the county’s all-time high in 1991. The reduction has produced a crime rate of 27.1 offenses per 1,000 residents, about half what it was two decades ago.

“As a region, Ventura County is a very safe area,” says Sheriff’s Capt. Keith Parks. “A big part of that is because of the mentality of the people who live here that crime will not be tolerated.”

That mentality is only reinforced by particularly heartbreaking cases such as the slayings of 14-year-old Kali Manley of Ojai and 19-year-old Melinda Brown of Simi Valley. Another cause for concern is a rise of hate crimes perpetrated by white supremacist skinheads in some parts of Ventura County. Senseless atrocities such as these feed a natural desire for greater efforts to reduce the crime rate to zero.

This is a time for the heart and the brain to work together. The good work of Ventura County’s law enforcement professionals deserves a salute of thanks. So do the many Citizen Patrol volunteers, neighborhood Crime Watch participants and residents who do their duty as jurors. And so do the taxpayers who pay the bills.

It is important to analyze what is working well in the current climate so we can adjust as necessary when the climate changes. For example, some of the current lull is due to a nationwide dip in the number of people between the ages of 17 and 25--the segment of the population most likely to commit crimes. As a new baby boom sends larger numbers toward that age group, crime statistics are expected to rise again. This trend is already beginning to be felt in Santa Paula and Fillmore.

Ventura County’s no-nonsense attitude toward crime has created such a safe place that violent crimes seem especially horrifying by their sheer rarity. Let us all work together to keep it that way.