Camarillo police say 2024 crime totals rose under new NIBRS reporting; catalytic-converter thefts drop sharply

Camarillo police presented a new-format crime report to the Camarillo City Council, saying that the city’s move to the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) in 2024 changed how crimes are counted and produced a higher overall total for the year.

Commander Tennyson, presenting the statistics, told the council the new system “significantly changes how we report crime,” and that NIBRS records every offense that occurs in a single incident rather than only the single highest-level offense. That change, he said, produced a 2024 total of 2,852 reported crimes for Camarillo when the department submitted its data to federal databases.

Why it matters: under the old Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) system, only the most serious offense in an incident was tallied; under NIBRS, a single incident can produce multiple reportable crimes. Commander Tennyson said the new method “is much more detailed and gives us a more detailed view to make data driven decisions.”

Key figures and trends from the report - Total reported crimes (2024, NIBRS): 2,852 (no direct year‑to‑year comparison with UCR-format years). - Crimes against persons (2024): 491 total, including 448 assaults. - Crimes against property (2024): 1,447 total; theft remained the largest category with more than 500 thefts, including over 500 shoplifting incidents and nearly 200 categorized as organized retail theft. Commander Tennyson said most thefts were concentrated between the Camarillo Premium Outlets and the Camarillo Town Center (Target and Home Depot). - Motor vehicle thefts: 72 in 2024, up from 60 the prior year; the most frequently stolen vehicles were Kia and Hyundai models. - Catalytic-converter thefts: 16 in 2024, down sharply from a two‑year high of 161; the commander credited recently enacted state regulation of recycled‑materials purchases for the decline. - Crimes against society (primarily drug- and weapons-related arrests): 914 total.

Task-force and enforcement activity Commander Tennyson highlighted multi‑agency enforcement efforts against organized retail theft. In May of the prior year, a regional task force conducted a three‑day operation that led to 19 arrests, mostly of suspects from outside Ventura County. Over the year the organized‑retail‑theft task force conducted 64 investigations resulting in 116 arrests; investigators estimate thieves stole more than $117,000 in merchandise and detectives recovered more than $77,000 worth of property.

Traffic and response metrics The department reported an average emergency response time of roughly 7 minutes, 8 seconds for high‑priority calls. Traffic collisions and DUI‑related crashes rose in 2024, with nearly 40 percent of collisions attributed to right‑of‑way and unsafe‑turn violations and about 15 percent attributed to speed. The department said it uses enforcement and data to “put cops on dots” at collision hot spots and reported reductions in injury and DUI accidents in the first three months of 2025.

Community engagement Tennyson also emphasized non‑enforcement outreach: coffee‑with‑a‑cop, four cones‑with‑a‑cop park events funded last summer, a neighborhood‑watch program with more than 60 groups, trunk‑or‑treat events and school outreach. He encouraged residents to use the sheriff’s transparency dashboards for crime and other data.

Council reaction and next steps Council members asked about hate‑crime reporting, school‑area enforcement and the geographic origin of organized‑retail suspects; Commander Tennyson said the overwhelming majority of organized‑retail suspects were from outside Ventura County and that the department is working to build trust in communities that may hesitate to report crimes.

Commander Tennyson closed by urging residents to use anonymous tip lines when appropriate and noted the department’s continued focus on data‑driven deployment.

The department posted datasets and dashboards on the county sheriff’s public site for residents who want deeper detail.