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Ventura County commander tells Ojai council city recorded about 3,500 calls and 78% clearance on crimes against persons in 2024
Summary
Commander Newman presented 2024 crime data for Ojai: about 3,500 calls for service, a 6.64-minute priority-1 response time, 261 arrests, and a 78% clearance rate for crimes against persons; reporting transitioned to NIBRS in 2024 so year-over-year comparison to 2023 is not available.
Commander Newman of the Ventura County Sheriff's Office presented the city’s year-end crime statistics for 2024, noting changes in reporting standards and emphasizing the limited comparability with prior years.
Newman said the city recorded slightly more than 3,500 calls for service in 2024 and that the department’s priority-1 response time averaged 6.64 minutes. Arrests totaled 261, and traffic collisions were reported at 46 non-injury and 32 injury crashes. The sheriff’s office transitioned crime reporting from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) system to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) in early 2024; because of that transition, staff did not provide a direct 2023-to-2024 comparison during the presentation.
In the NIBRS breakdown Newman shared, Ojai logged one homicide (a traffic fatality), 73 crimes against persons including 17 aggravated assaults and 51 simple assaults, and a total of 49 crimes against property (including 2 robberies and 5 burglaries). Commander Newman said most assaults involved offenders known to the victims rather than random encounters and that intimidation and kidnapping incidents tied to domestic violence accounted for the two related reports. For crimes against society—narcotics, weapons and animal cruelty—there were 55 reports and 54 arrests, reflecting the way those offenses are typically charged.
Clearance rates were 78% for crimes against persons, 26% for property crimes (where suspects often cannot be identified because incidents involve fraud or internet-based scams), and 98% for crimes against society. Newman pointed to a sustained increase in assaults since 2021 and emphasized that many thefts—fraud, identity theft and phone scams—are difficult to investigate because the perpetrators often operate from other states or countries. Newman also noted distracted driving (phone use while driving) was the most common cause of traffic citations and a leading contributor to collisions.
Newman said the department hopes to restore foot and bike patrols in 2025 as staffing allows and that the 2024 traffic program will continue to receive regular updates to the city manager. He directed residents to VenturaSheriff.org for the dashboard and supporting data.
Why it matters: The report offers a snapshot of public-safety workload and operational priorities, including response times, types of crime concentrated in Ojai (property crimes numerically dominate) and the limits investigators face with interstate or online fraud cases.
