Sheriff sees crime fall, but worst offenses rise

Overall reported crime was down 1 percent in 2016 from a year earlier across unincorporated areas and the five cities where the Ventura County Sheriff's Office provides police services.

But the number of reported violent crimes increased by six last year, or 1 percent, according to a report compiled by the agency and released this week. Violent crimes include homicides, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults.

Law enforcement agencies across the nation compile crime statistics annually, with the figures being given to the FBI and published.

Year over year, Ventura County Sheriff's Office patrol areas had 11 more reported rapes in 2016, or a total of 99. Eleven more robberies were also reported last year, 94. The increases in these two violent crimes were offset by a decrease of 16 reported aggravated assaults compared to the previous year, for a total of 349 in 2016.

Although there was a very small decrease in reported overall crime in 2016 when compared to 2015, the overall crime total has increased by 5 percent since 2014, sheriff's officials said.

"This equates to over 200 additional victims in our county," the agency said in a news release, referring to the change since 2014.

There were 360,333 people living in the areas covered by the Ventura County Sheriff's Office in 2016, compared to 350,991 in 2014.

One of the biggest increases in violent crime in 2016 compared to 2014 was for crimes involving the use of hands, fists and feet, the agency reported.

Crimes involving the use of firearms, by comparison, declined to 24 reported cases in 2016, compared to 37 in 2014. The 2016 decrease in firearm use was even more dramatic when compared to the 61 reported incidents in 2015.

It was a similar story for the number of reported incidents involving a knife. There were 39 such reported incidents in 2016, 57 in 2015 and 51 in 2014.

There were 421 incidents of reported residential burglaries in 2016, 409 in 2015 and 466 in 2014. This amounts to a 10.6 percent decrease in residential burglaries in 2016 from 2014.

The number of reported thefts, including vehicle thefts, was 3,246 in 2016, 3,266 in 2015 and 3,109 in 2014. This means there were 20 fewer reported thefts in 2016 compared to 2015 and 137 more in 2016 than in 2014.

Overall, there were 4,082 property-related crimes reported in 2016, compared to 4,132 in 2015.

Sheriff authorities urged anyone seeing suspicious or criminal activity to report it by calling 911 or by calling 654-9511.