Comparison To Other Cities

PRESS RELEASE

INCIDENT:	2015 FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) data shows a continued increase in Oxnard crime
DATE/TIME:	January-December 2015
LOCATION:	Citywide
PREPARED BY:	Andrew Salinas, Investigations Commander
CONTACT PERSON AND CONTACT INFO:	Andrew Salinas, Investigations Commander andrewsalinas@oxnardpd.org; (805) 385-7756

DETAILS:
The
FBI gathers crime statistics from law enforcement agencies each year as part of
their Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program.
The UCR Program collects data on four violent crime and four property
crime categories. The purpose of the
program is to generate a reliable set of crime statistics for use by law
enforcement. The Oxnard Police
Department has been a participating UCR agency for over forty (40) years and
believes it is important to share the crime data with our residents.

The City of Oxnard began to see a
rise in reported crime in 2012 for the first time in 20 years. The increase has continued through 2015 with
an overall crime increase of 4.8%. This
is the lowest crime increase over the last four years. The UCR crime categories and the reported
crime data for 2014 and 2015 are listed below:

Homicides

The city experienced twelve (12) homicides in 2015. This
is in comparison to the eleven (11) handled in 2014, with a 10-year city
average of 12 homicides per year. Of the
twelve homicide cases, ten are open investigations, and two are closed due to
an arrest in the case. All twelve homicide victims were male. Eleven of the
victims were Hispanic, and one victim was African American. The predominant murder weapon in 2015 was a
firearm; nine of the victims were shot to death. Of note, one murder victim was
shot on June 24, 1990, and died in 2015 due to complications from a gunshot
wound. Although the victim was shot and
injured 25 years ago, the Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office has listed
this as a homicide.

Aggravated Assaults

For purposes
of crime classification and reporting, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and
the California Department of Justice define aggravated assault as “an unlawful
attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or
aggravated bodily injury. This type of
assault is accompanied by the use of a weapon or by means likely to produce
death or great bodily harm.” Injury is
not necessary when a gun, knife, or other weapon that could cause serious
personal injury is used. Reporting is
required for each victim of an incident that meets the aforementioned
definition.

Aggravated
assaults increased thirty-one and eight tenths of a percent (31.8%). There were 502 aggravated assaults
reported during calendar year 2015 and 381 during 2014, resulting in an
increase of 121 additional crimes.

Aggravated
assaults are subdivided into four categories based on type of weapon: (1) firearm; (2) knife or other cutting
instrument; (3) other dangerous weapon (vehicle, bat, club, etc.); and (4)
hands, fist, feet. During 2015, there
were 121 assaults with a firearm, 181 with a knife, 142 other dangerous weapon
and 58 with hands, fist, or feet. The
weapon category of other dangerous weapon experienced the sharpest increase,
51.1%, 48 additional crimes. Totals by
weapon type, numerical difference, and percentage of change for the last three
(3) years is listed below:

In an effort
to further classify aggravated assaults, a type based on the relationship
between the suspect and victim or the suspect’s motivation was created. It should be noted that the following totals
were derived from a preliminary case review of each case and are subject to
change. As such, they should not be used
as exact totals, but rather an approximation of aggravated assaults by
type.

(1)
Random – there is no known relationship between the
suspect and victim. In many of these
instances the victim was attacked without provocation.

(2)
Domestic / Family – there is a prior or current
relationship, marriage or blood line between the suspect and victim.

(3)
Acquaintance – the suspect and victim are known to each
other. Often they are roommates,
classmates, friends, neighbors, etc.
Many of these assaults resulted from disputes over money, property, or
loud music.

(4)
Gang / Tagger – either the suspect/victim may have gang or
tagger involvement.

Totals by
type, numerical difference, and percentage of change for the last two (2) years
are listed below:

Overall,
aggravated assaults within the City of Oxnard have been trending downward for
decades. During calendar year 1994,
there were 1,073 aggravated assaults reported in the City compared to 381
during 2014. As such, we experienced an
increase within this crime category, 502 aggravated assaults during calendar
year 2015.

Larcenies (Thefts)

For purposes
of crime classification and reporting, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and
the California Department of Justice define larceny as “an unlawful taking,
carrying, leading, or riding away of property from the possession or
constructive possession of another.”

The crime
category of larceny (theft) increased six and two tenths of a percent (6.2%).
There were 4,751 larcenies reported during calendar year 2015 and 4,475 during
2014, an increase of 276 incidents.

Larceny is
subdivided into nine categories based on the type of theft: (1) pocket-picking; (2) purse snatching; (3)
shoplifting; (4) theft from motor vehicles; (5) theft of motor vehicle parts
and accessories; (6) theft of bicycles; (7) theft from buildings; (8) theft
from coin-operated devices or machines; and (9) all other thefts. The chart below lists larceny totals, by
category, for calendar years 2014 and 2015.

Thefts from motor vehicles is the
leading type of reported crime in Oxnard, accounting for 20.7% of the City’s
crime picture. It is also the most preventable. There was a significant
decrease in the total number of thefts from motor vehicle, 241 fewer crimes. This is a 13.2% reduction from calendar year
2014. Our outreach and public
information efforts to discourage residents from leaving valuables in their
vehicle in their vehicle may be a contributing factor for this turnaround.

Shoplifts accounted for 18.4% of
Oxnard’s reported crimes in 2015. The increase of shoplifts over the past two
years is continuing to play a significant factor in our crime rate. Increased retail in the City of Oxnard along
with improved loss prevention and security measures is most likely responsible
for an upsurge in shoplifts.

Motor
Vehicle Theft

For purposes
of crime classification and reporting, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and
the California Department of Justice define motor vehicle theft as “the theft
or attempted theft of a motor vehicle.” A motor vehicle is defined as a
self-propelled vehicle that runs on land surface.

Motor vehicle
theft increased thirteen and six tenths of a percent (13.6%). There were 835 motor vehicle thefts
reported during calendar year 2015 and 735 during 2014, 100 additional crimes.

To determine
a national recovery rate, the Federal Bureau of Investigation divides the
dollar value of recovered vehicles by the value of stolen vehicles. The Oxnard Police Department’s recovery rate
is much higher than the national average.

During
calendar year 2015, there were 348 arrests made for California Vehicle Code
section 10851(a) and/or California Penal Code section 496d(a). Of those, 183 were accompanied with
additional charges: 79 narcotic related;
44 other property crimes, 11 vehicle code violations, 10 violent crimes, 10
weapon related crimes, 5 warrants, 5 for violation of parole/probation, and 19
miscellaneous offenses.

One individual was arrested on three
separate occasions for stealing a motor vehicle in the City of Oxnard.

In summary,
during calendar year 2015, there were 835 motor vehicle thefts reported, 777
stolen vehicles recovered, and 348 arrests for 10851 VC and/or 496d(a) PC. Oxnard’s stolen vehicle recovery rate in 2015
was 82.5%. The national average for
stolen vehicle recoveries during the past three years has ranged from 53% to
55%.

In response to a third consecutive
year of increases in motor vehicle theft, the Oxnard Police Department created
the Oxnard Auto Theft Task Force (OATTF) in January 2015. The Task Force is a concentrated effort with
investigators and crime analysis personnel to identify repeat offenders and
auto theft trends and ultimately decrease the number of auto thefts experienced
by Oxnard residents. The dramatic
increase in arrests during 2015 can be directly attributed to our directed
enforcement efforts. Stolen vehicle arrests increased by 143% in 2015.

Firearms

The Firearms Strike Team (FAST), led
by the Violent Crimes Unit, was created to proactively remove firearms from
prohibited persons in the city. The objective of FAST was to reduce gun
violence in Oxnard through education, intervention, and enforcement. Overall,
in 2015, Oxnard officers made one-hundred and seventy-three (173)
firearms-related arrests and the Oxnard Police Department seized two-hundred
and sixty-four (264) firearms. These are considerable increases from 2014 which
saw the arrest of one-hundred and six (106) individuals for firearms related
charges along with the seizure of two-hundred and forty (240) firearms. The
firearms seized included: 114 semi-automatic
handguns; 55 revolvers; 53 shotguns; 39 rifles; 2 zip guns; and 1 machine
gun.

Crime
Prevention Efforts

In April 2015, the Oxnard Police Department launched a new
and innovative community outreach program called “Oxnard Neighbors United
Project,” or ON UP. The central focus of
this program is to further engage, inform, educate, and empower residents as
partners in public safety. This program
built on the success of our 2014 Operation
Safer and Stronger Initiative. This
program expands our efforts to reduce property crimes by educating residents on
crime prevention and other important public safety information and trainings.

Also, our public engagement with the community and
neighborhoods is continuing to grow through our social media platforms such as
Nextdoor.com, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
The focus has been on organizing and facilitating neighborhood
communication through virtual neighborhoods, community meetings, and community
events.

DATE
/ TIME PREPARED: February 23, 2016,
2000 hours

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