2 Ventura Cities Are Safest of Their Size in U.S.

VENTURA — Two Ventura County cities, Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley, were the safest urban areas in the nation with 100,000 or more population last year, according to figures released by the FBI.

The two Ventura County cities had less total crime in 1991 than other urban areas in a preliminary FBI crime study.

They also had the lowest rate of crime per 1,000 people, a breakdown by The Times showed.

Thousand Oaks had 3,323 crimes in 1991 compared to 3,241 in the previous year. That was a rate of 32 crimes per 1,000 people.

Simi Valley was just behind Thousand Oaks with a total of 3,415 crimes compared to 3,148 for 1990. A breakdown showed the Simi Valley crime rate to be 34 crimes per 1,000 people.

The nation’s third-lowest crime rate--36 crimes per 1,000 residents--was recorded by the nearby city of Santa Clarita in Los Angeles County.

Other low crime rates in California included: Sunnyvale, 40 crimes per 1,000 residents; Fremont, 41 crimes per 1,000; Huntington Beach, 44 crimes per 1,000; and Irvine, 45 crimes per 1,000.

San Jose had the lowest crime rate among the state’s largest cities, 55 crimes per 1,000 residents compared with 87 crimes per 1,000 for San Diego.

Oakland had the highest crime rate in the state among large cities with 126 reported offenses per 1,000 residents; followed by Fresno, 124 crimes per 1,000 residents; Sacramento, 104 crimes per 1,000 population; Los Angeles, 101 crimes per 1,000 inhabitants; San Francisco, 96 crimes per 1,000, and Long Beach, 94 crimes per 1,000 residents.

For the past four years, Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley have been competing with each other for the bragging rights to which city has the safest streets.

“It makes us feel good,” said Lt. Richard Diaz, who is in charge of patrol services for Thousand Oaks.

“But the street officer doesn’t pay attention to those things,” he said. “They’re out there doing their job.”

Sgt. John Wilcox of the Simi Valley Police Department said the figures can provide a barometer of the effectiveness of a police agency.

Raw crime figures are reported to the FBI in Washington by 195 cities with populations in excess of 100,000. About 185 cities reported in time for the agency’s preliminary report, which was distributed nationally by the FBI this week.