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In 2008, the City of Oxnard experienced a 24% reduction in traffic collisions as compared to the prior year. To date in 2009, we are enjoying another significant reduction; down another 19%. We attribute these successes to many sources. Our Traffic Unit has provided the leadership for a coordinated effort by our entire Department to improve traffic safety. Each Traffic officer is responsible for lowering the number of traffic collisions in his/her beat. The officers are given the discretion to do whatever they need to do to improve traffic safety. Through community meetings and collision data they determine the hotspots in their beats and develop the best strategies to address the problem areas.

One of our common strategies is community outreach. Our citywide public information campaign included a listing and explanation of our top five primary collision factors. The factors are consistent from year to year and beat to beat. They include: unsafe speed, following too closely, unsafe lane change, failure to yield and red light violations. Another common strategy is an examination of particular intersections to see if any possible changes would make them safer. Our Traffic officers meet with the City’s traffic engineer on a regular basis to discuss how these roadways are designed and posted.

We also know that ultimately, enforcement is needed to change behavior. With an emphasis on aggressive and inattentive drivers, Oxnard officers have written a significantly higher number of traffic citations in 2009. Many of these motorists are unaware of the risk associated with their unsafe practices and have become lackadaisical in regards to traffic safety. We’re trying to get the word out that traffic collisions are not accidents and that the vast majority of them could have been avoided.

In addition to publicity campaigns, our officers will also do enforcement campaigns throughout the year. These campaigns will not only focus on particular areas, but certain violations as well. Examples include seatbelt, failure to yield and cell phone violations. While seatbelt compliance is high, we still regularly see preventable injuries as a result of motorists not wearing seatbelts. Cell phone compliance is low throughout the county. If you’ve ever stood in a crosswalk at an uncontrolled intersection, you know that drivers in our county don’t always yield to pedestrians as they should.

In the first 6 months of 2009, our officers have written 11779 traffic citations. This is a 39% increase over 2008 and compares to a total of 8472 citations for the first six months of 2008. The number of driving under the influence (DUI) arrests is also up by 16% so far this year.

Not only is our overall number of traffic collisions lower by 19%, but:

• injury traffic collisions decreased by 8.5% and 
• fatal traffic collisions decreased from 5 to 3 in the first six months of 2009.

We will also support this emphasis on traffic safety with better equipment and training for our officers. This equipment and training will allow our officers to more effectively enforce DUI, speed, and other unsafe driving practices. In these challenging economic times, much of this increased effort will be grant funded.

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The Oxnard Police Department unveiled a new component to its existing Crime Free Business program called, “Hats Off to Beat Crime.” The  purpose  of the  program  is to reduce robbery and violence in retail establishments.

The Hats Off program is adapted from a successful crime prevention effort undertaken by the Folkestone Police Station in Kent, England. According to Police Constable John Weller of the Folkestone Neighbourhood [sic-British spelling] Policing Unit, the Hats Off effort dates back some 300 years. “I found out that King Carlos III of Spain introduced a similar program in the 1700s where he banned the wearing a broad-brimmed hats, which were being used to conceal the identity of criminals.” (Citation: The History of Spain by Peter Pierson, pp.78-79, published by Greenwood,2008.)

The concept behind Oxnard’s Hats Off campaign is not much different from that of ancient Spain. Many commercial robberies in our city occur with suspects concealing their faces with hats, hoodies or helmets. The 8″ by 10″ full-color sticker (as pictured above) is available to any Oxnard-based business. It is placed near the entrances of the business as a reminder to customers to remove head apparel before entering.

Refusing to remove hats, hoodies or helmets does not constitute a crime in of itself, but business owners do have the right to refuse service to persons so dressed. California law makes the obstruction or intimidation of businesses or its employees a misdemeanor.* Therefore, business owners have discretion in who they choose to serve based on apparel and the threat of criminal activity.

“You have to wonder why a person would go into a business with their face concealed,” says Detective Marty Ennis, Crime Free coordinator with the Oxnard Police Department. “If you’re not a crook, why would you want to look like one?”

Oxnard police recommend that owners pay particular attention to customers who conceal their faces. “Employees are well within the rights to ask a customer to comply with the sign,” said Ennis. “If the customer refuses to cooperate, the store employee can ask the customer to leave. If the customer refuses to leave, the police should be called because the situation has escalated to a possible criminal act.” Persons who fail to cooperate with the reasonable requests of business employees may be subject to arrest.

Businesses interested in the Hats Off campaign or the Crime Free Business program can contact Detective Martin Ennis at (805) 385-8349 or MartinEnnis@OxnardPD.org. Additional information is available online at http://www.oxnardpd.org/crimefreebusiness/.

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On 9/5/09, at about 1700 hours, officers from the Oxnard Police Department responded to a call of a robbery that occurred at 250 East Pleasant Valley Road. The victim was selling ice cream from a cart when he was approached by the suspect. The suspect displayed a handgun in his waistband and demanded the ice cream cart. The suspect fled the area with the cart which contained ice cream and cash made from sales. As the suspect fled, he told the victim not to call the police or he would harm his family.

The suspect was stopped by officers in the area and identified. An imitation firearm was recovered during the investigation.

The suspect was also identified in an attempted robbery that occurred earlier in the 2600 block of Samuel Ave. In that incident, the suspect approached the victim on foot and displayed a handgun in his waistband. The suspect demanded the victim’s wallet and cellular phone. When the victim ran towards a group of people, the suspect fled the area.

There have been several robberies in the area with similar descriptions. Investigations are continuing.

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At 2:23 AM on 12/18/2009 Oxnard Police Department officers responded to a call of a robbery that just occurred at the Circle K Food Store, located at 2323 North Oxnard Boulevard, in Oxnard. The suspect was described as wearing all black clothing and a cloth mask. He was also described as wielding a large knife.

The description of the suspect matched that from a string of robberies that have been occurring in Oxnard during the past sixteen months. Oxnard Police Department Detectives Paul Knapp and Ed Baldwin had been investigating these robberies and had been developing suspect information.

Sergeant Robin Whitney, who was in the vicinity, spotted a white Nissan Altima leaving the area. This vehicle matched the suspect vehicle description from previous robberies, and he conducted a traffic stop. Property from the robbery was recovered in the vehicle. The driver and sole occupant of the vehicle, Barry Sanchez of Oxnard, was arrested for the robbery.

Further investigation determined that Sanchez was also responsible for 14 robberies of 7-11 Food Stores in Oxnard that occurred from August 2008 to present.

At the time of this press release, Sanchez is in custody at the Ventura County Jail, his bail set at $900,000.

The investigation is continuing.

Video surveillance of the robbery is available for viewing and was also included in this press release. Please contact David Keith at (805) 385-7631 or at davidkeith@oxnardpd.org for further information.