Port Hueneme Police Department
Mid-Year Crime Statistics Report
January to June 2009

The crime statistics are compiled totaling the Part One Crimes that are made up by examining seven different offenses: Homicide, Rape, Robbery, Aggravated Assault, Burglary, Theft and Motor Vehicle Theft. California reporting of Part One Crimes also requires reporting of Domestic Violence and Arson cases, although these offenses are not included in the overall total. Non-Aggravated Assaults (Misdemeanor assaults) are not counted as Part One Crimes.

The FBI tabulates the total number of Part One Crimes committed per city to calculate the Crime Index for cities in the United States. These statistics are published in the Uniform Crime Report (UCR).

The overall crime rate in the City of Port Hueneme for Part One Crimes is up for the first six months of 2009 by 17% compared to the first six months of 2008. Motor Vehicle Theft is down 22% from 23 offenses in 2008 to 18 offenses in 2009. Arson was down 25% from 4 offenses in 2008 to 3 offenses in 2009. Homicides were down 100% from 2 incidents in 2008 compared to zero incidents in 2009.

In 2009, Rape increased by 300% from one offense in 2008 to four offenses in 2009. The offender was known in theses offenses and alcohol was involved. Robberies increased 45% from 11 offenses in 2008 to 16 offenses in 2009. These offenses consisted of numerous strong-arm robberies on primarily City streets, and several on the bike path and park in the south end of the City. There were several purse snatches in the Mandalay Shopping Center. One robbery was a bank robbery at Citibank. Another was a “home invasion” type robbery where the suspect brandished a gun and pushed his way into a residence. That suspect was arrested. Several suspects in the strong-arm robberies were identified and arrested. In comparison to other cities, Ventura and Oxnard Police Departments are experiencing an increase in robberies as well.

Aggravated assault increased 140% from 10 offenses in 2008 to 24 offenses in 2009. 18 of the 24 offenses were felony domestic violence assaults. A knife was used in several other non-domestic assaults that were possibly gang related. Alcohol also played a role at the time of the incidents.

Domestic Violence increased 11% from 138 offenses in 2008 to 153 in 2009.

As stated last quarter, there are numerous articles written about the increase in violent crime due to the downturn in the economy and unemployment rate. In reviewing each Domestic Violence crime report, including the verbal Domestic Violence reports, we can surmise with confidence that the majority of the Domestic Violence reports identify the male as the suspect. In our documented reports, the male abuses alcohol, is unemployed or recently lost his job and/or experienced a related event that triggered aggressive behavior toward his spouse and family. Most of the incidents began with arguments about money and escalated to a physical confrontation. According to Jack Levin, professor of Criminology and Sociology at Northwestern University there is a slight correlation between overall crime and the economy, but the increase is due to other factors as well. Police and prosecutors are facing economic pressure to keep people out of jail and place them in community-based programs. Criminals are also pushed out of correctional facilities and onto the street earlier because of overcrowding. Crimes of profit have begun to escalate especially robbery and burglary.

Burglaries increased 4% from 45 offenses in 2008 to 47 offenses in 2009. Many of the burglaries were thefts from laundry machines in Marina Village. Recently, we have noticed an increase in auto burglaries both in the north and south end of the City. Cell phones, GPS systems, ipods and laptops are the items of choice in these offenses. Many of these auto burglaries have been committed on vehicles where the property was left out in plain sight. Thefts increased 1% from 86 incidents in 2008 to 87 incidents in 2009.

If you look at the calls for service, reports taken and arrests, these items are all related. Our calls for service have gone up significantly by 13% from 5343 in 2008 to 6051 in 2009. Our reports taken have gone up 8% from 1008 in 2008 to 1090 in 2009. As a result of these items being handled with limited resources, our arrests have declined by 12% from 509 in 2008 to 449 in 2009. Our time and ability to conduct proactive police patrol has been impacted by the increase in calls for service and reports taken.

The Port Hueneme Police Department continues to take a proactive approach to identifying crime patterns and trends and protect the safety of the citizens of Port Hueneme. Patrol officers and detectives will conduct probation searches and will continue arrest warrant details on known offenders. Detectives will continue to track and monitor gang related behavior of known gang members and taggers in an attempt to decrease graffiti vandalism and gang related offenses.

Senior Officer Ryan Bates, who is the Beat Coordinator for Beat I that encompasses most of the north end of the City, implemented a program where information notices are sent directly to residents’ home computers. During various Neighborhood Watch meetings, residents have given Officer Bates their personal e-mail addresses so that they could receive information from him regarding their neighborhoods. The goal of this program is to improve the timeliness in the delivery of information to the residents to make them aware of crimes occurring in their area.

The Police Department will continue to engage the citizens of Port Hueneme and challenge them to step up and take precautionary measures to prevent crime in the city. Citizens can easily accomplish this by establishing and maintaining effective neighborhood watch programs in their respective neighborhoods.