Jeri Williams Chief of Police

Oxnard Police Department R. Jason Benites Assistant Chief Scott Whitney Assistant Chief

OXNARD POLICE DEPARTMENT

NEWS RELEASE

INCIDENT:	2014 FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) data shows a continued increase in Oxnard crime
DATE/TIME:	January-December 2014
LOCATION:	Citywide
PREPARED BY:	Miguel Lopez, Community Affairs Manager
CONTACT PERSON & CONTACT INFO:	Miguel Lopez, Community Affairs Manager (805) 385-7631

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 crimes and four property crimes. 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 and we continued to experience an increase through 2014. The UCR crime categories and the reported crime data for 2013 and 2014 are listed below:
 
Part I Crimes                         2013                2014                            Numerical Difference
 
Violent Crimes
Homicide                                 15                      11                                   -4
Rape                                       10                       45                                   35
Robbery                                  328                    447                                 119
Aggravated Assault               298                     381                                  83
Total                                      651                   884                                233
 
Property Crimes
Burglary                                  974                    1,172                             198
Motor Vehicle Theft               664                    735                                71
Larceny (Theft)                      3,436                 4,475                            1,039
Arson                                     36                      27                                 -9
Total                                     5,110                6,409                           1,299
OVERALL TOTAL                5,761                 7,293                          1,532
 
Under the categories of Violent Crimes, there was a 36.3% increase in robberies. The city experienced a series of commercial robberies through the Saviers Road and Ventura Road corridors that contributed to a 41.1% increase in commercial robberies in 2014.
 
The city experienced eleven (11) homicides in 2014. This is in comparison to the fifteen (15) experienced in 2013 and the 10-year city average of 11.9. The crime category of rape saw a considerable increase after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) implemented a change in the report definition for rape, broadening the reporting requirement. Under the new requirement, approximately thirty-one (31) additional crimes were reported, accounting for the majority of the increase. Reporting under the previous definition of rape, there would have been an increase of four (4) crimes.
 
For reporting purposes, the crime category of larceny (theft) is divided into eight classifications: Bicycles, Coin-Operated Devices, From Building, From Motor Vehicle, Purse-Snatch/Pick Pocket, Shoplift, Vehicle Parts, andAll Other. Listed below is the comparison from 2013 to 2014:
                                                                                                Numerical
Category                                2013                2014               Difference                  % Change
From Motor Vehicle                 1,308               1,824               516                              39.4%
Shoplifting                               926                  1,185               279                              30.1%
All Others                                499                  769                  270                              54.1%
Vehicle Parts                           435                  358                  -77                               -17.7%
Bicycles                                   129                  161                  32                                24.8%
From Buildings                        131                  140                  9                                  6.8%
Coin-Operated Devices           5                      28                    23                                460%
Purse-Snatch/Pick Pocket       3                      10                    7                                  233%
TOTAL                                   3,436               4,475
 
Many of our thefts from motor vehicles can be attributed to unlocked or unsecured vehicles with valuables left in plain sight which can ultimately be prevented. At the beginning of 2014, the Oxnard Police Department launched our Operation Safer and Stronger initiative aimed at addressing current crime trends and empowering our community members to help improve public safety throughout the City of Oxnard. We hosted a series of crime prevention seminars available to the public throughout the year. The topics of the seminars included: “What is Suspicious?” Reporting Crimes in our city, Identity theft, Child safety, Burglary prevention, Cyber safety (including bullying), Robbery, Self-defense (our Oxnard Police RADD program), as well as scams and other crimes targeting the elderly, Graffiti/gangs, and others.
 
In addition to the crime prevention seminars, we created the Firearms Strike Team (FAST), led by the Violent Crimes Unit, 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 2014, Oxnard officers made one-hundred and six (106) firearms-related arrests and the Oxnard Police Department seized two-hundred and forty (240) firearms. Gang-related aggravated assaults decreased 24.4% during calendar year 2014 with forty-five (45) being reported, down from fifty-six (56) in 2013.
 
In response to a third consecutive year of increases in motor vehicle theft, the Oxnard Police Department recently created the Oxnard Auto Theft Task Force (OATTF) which 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 in 2015.
 
DATE / TIME PREPARED:  4/3/2015, 1600 hours

Jeri Williams Chief of Police

Oxnard Police Department R. Jason Benites Assistant Chief Scott Whitney Assistant Chief

OXNARD POLICE DEPARTMENT

NEWS RELEASE

INCIDENT:	Oxnard Police Department to Offer Start Smart Class for Teen Drivers
DATE/TIME:	May 26, 2015 / 1830 to 2030 hours
PREPARED BY:	Traffic Officer Mike Wood, (805) 385-7749 mike.wood@oxnardpd.org
CONTACT PERSON & CONTACT INFO:	Senior Traffic Service Assistant Victoria Izquierdo, (805) 207-5265 victoria.izquierdo@oxnardpd.org

DETAILS: The Oxnard Police Department is excited to announce its first Start Smart teenage driver safety class.  Oxnard’s Start Smart program is funded by the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) and developed in partnership with the California Highway Patrol.

The Start Smart program provides focused traffic safety information for new and future teen drivers and their parents and/or guardians.  The course offers interactive and innovative lecture including discussions on traffic laws, defensive driving, common collision factors, collision avoidance tips, DUI awareness and making the appropriate decisions before and while driving a motor vehicle.  The educational program aims to reduce the number of injuries and deaths among teenagers as a result of traffic collisions.  Traffic collisions are the leading cause of death for people aged 15-20.  
 
This free class will be held on Tuesday, May 26 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at 300 W. Third Street in Oxnard.  For more information or to schedule your attendance, please contact Senior Traffic Service Assistant Victoria Izquierdo at (805) 207-5265 or via email at victoria.izquierdo@oxnardpd.org.
 

DATE / TIME PREPARED: April 26, 2015 / 1200 Hours

Jeri Williams Chief of Police

Oxnard Police Department R. Jason Benites Assistant Chief Scott Whitney Assistant Chief

OXNARD POLICE DEPARTMENT

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 

A Call for Community Action
 

Community Meeting

In response to a recent series of gang-involved violent crimes, Oxnard Police Chief Jeri Williams held a special meeting on Monday, March 9, 2015 with members of the Chief’s Advisory Board as well as a number of faith-based leaders from throughout the community. The purpose of the meeting was to brief community leaders about a recent string of gang-involved shootings, share the police department’s response to the violence, and facilitate a roundtable discussion focused on how the community can help curb the violence.  
 

The Situation

During the meeting, attendees were briefed about eleven (11) shootings involving thirteen (13) victims that occurred in Oxnard between January 14th and March 9th. Three (3) of these shootings were homicides.  It is believed that all of the below-listed incidents involved Oxnard gang members as suspects.  In at least four cases, persons who are not believed to have been involved with gangs were shot.  In two cases, persons not believed to be involved in gangs were killed (noted below with an asterisk*).

 

• 
  January 14, 2015: 5100 block Perkins Road – Victim, Jose Escobar (24 years old)*
• 
  January 21, 2015: 200 block Balsam Street – Victim Luis Amaro (41 years old)
• 
  January 31, 2015: 1300 block Freidrich Lane – Victim Joseph Tamayo (28 years old)
• 
  February 15, 2015: 4600 block Cloyne Street – Victim Carlos Medina (21 years old)
• 
  February 24, 2015: 5300 block South J Street – Victim Benjamin Dixon (21 years old)
• 
  February 28, 2015: 700 block Berkshire – Victim Hector Galeas (23 years old) and Bibiana Chavez (39 years old)
• 
  February 28, 2015: 100 block Eliza Court – Victims Albert Mendoza (22 years old) and Michael Andrade (22 years old)*
• 
  March 1, 2015: 5400 block South J Street – Victim Miguel Lopez (21 years old)
• 
  March 4, 2015: 5300 block South J Street – Victim Edgar Avitia (26 years old)
• 
  March 5, 2015: 1200 block South G Street – Victim Daniel Franco (32 years old)
• 
  March 9, 2015: 400 block Palm Drive – Victim Daniel Reyes (22 years old)

 

Oxnard Police Department’s Response

The Oxnard Police Department has reallocated a variety of resources aimed at stopping the cycle of violence as well as providing an increased uniformed presence to reassure neighborhood residents. The Field Services Bureau has increased bicycle patrols in the impacted neighborhoods and enhanced the staffing levels of the Special Enforcement Unit (SEU) with the intent of targeting the most dangerous gang members believed to be responsible for the violence. The Investigative Services Bureau has shifted the responsibilities of several investigators with the express purpose of working with the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office to identify and arrest the suspects in the above-listed incidents.

Oxnard Police Officers have made twenty-four (24) firearms-related arrests since the beginning of the aforementioned cycle of violence after making one-hundred and six (106) in 2014. The Oxnard Police Department seized two-hundred and forty (240) firearms in 2014 and we will continue to focus on prohibited persons in possession of firearms through the efforts of the Firearms Strike Team (F.A.S.T.).

It is encouraging to note that the City of Oxnard has not experienced a gang-related shooting since the community meeting was convened on March 9th.
 

Community Members Demand That Violence Must Cease

“A strong community needs a strong police department, and a strong police department needs the support of our community. We cannot do this alone,” Chief Jeri Williams said to the assembled group of community, business, and faith-based leaders on March 9th.

The community leaders in attendance were passionate about developing ways to be more proactive in the community.  Suggested courses of action ranged from peace marches to peace cruising to prayer vigils. Several community members offered strong words for those involved in the violence and those affected in our neighborhoods:

“Violence within our community should never be tolerated. Our community needs to demonstrate its intolerance equally against all perpetrators. We all share in the responsibility of ensuring a safe Oxnard,” –Harry Cortez, Longtime Oxnard resident and community leader

“It’s not okay that my children are not safe to play at the neighborhood park, or go for a bike ride before or after dinner because its dark and dangerous outside. It’s not okay that I don’t feel safe in the surrounding areas where I live. It’s not okay to live in FEAR. Now is the time that we as a community can do something about it… Imagine feeling safe in Oxnard? It can definitely happen. We just need to care enough to change it and no longer accept it,” –Theresa Quijano

“This is not a new problem in our society and certainly not in Oxnard but only if the community comes together and stands up with ONE VOICE will we be able to stop this domestic war that uses as a battleground our very own cities, counties and states right here in our good old USA!” –Pablo Ortiz

“We the faith-based community along with the citizens of our city are tired of hearing about all the violence that has been going on these last few weeks!! It’s time to take our streets back!! We need to be out there in the front lines showing our concern for our youth!!! It’s times for action!  We can make a difference one life at a time!!” –Pastor Lou Trinidad
 

The City of Oxnard’s Youth Safety Coordinator, Ken Klopman, was also in attendance at the meeting and will work with the group to determine what type of events/marches will be held in the future. A Community Peace March has tentatively been scheduled for the month of May as an opportunity for anyone interested to participate and show those responsible for the violence that it will not be tolerated in our community. The exact date will be announced in the coming days. If you wish to help by participating in or helping to organize neighborhood forums or events to address youth violence, please contact Ken Klopman at the Office of Youth Safety at (805) 385-7471 or ken.klopman@ci.oxnard.ca.us.

What The Public Can Do

The Oxnard Police Department is committed to thoroughly investigating all of the incidents to bring justice for the victims of these senseless crimes. We encourage our community to always remain vigilant and immediately report any suspicious activity. As neighbors, we are the first to recognize activity that does not look or sound right. The public can report any suspicious activity by calling (805) 385-7740 from any phone, or 911. Spanish translators are available, and callers can remain anonymous.

Persons with additional information about any of the incidents listed above are encouraged to call the Violent Crimes Hotline at (805) 982-7070, or contact the Ventura County Crimestoppers at (800) 222-8477.  Persons can also visit the website http://www.venturacountycrimestopper.org/contact.aspx to leave an anonymous tip.

The City of Oxnard offers up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of suspect(s) in homicide cases.

DATE / TIME PREPARED:  4/1/2015 at 1600 hours