Ventura Crime Reports

* Re “Ventura Police Counting Crime a New Way,” July 26.

Although the state’s suggestion for the Ventura Police Department to revert to reporting every crime that is called in to police (rather than waiting for such reports to be filed via an official crime report) may come as welcome news to those who feel that this practice may be too burdensome to the “victims” and may result in underreporting, let’s step back for a minute and take another look at why Ventura’s crime reporting program is unique in California.

I have lived in West Ventura for 10 years, during which time I have been harassed by the criminal element for being an aggressive community-watch patrol person and an outspoken critic of the rampant crime in the area.

The Ventura police know full well that these criminals will “drop a dime” to attempt to frame innocent individuals. Police operators are flooded with such bogus calls, as evidenced by the lack of follow-up by these criminal “wolf criers” who refuse to give their real names or to file official police crime reports or to testify in court.

I urge the Ventura City Council to consider this reality when deciding whether to revert to simply counting crime call-ins when determining the actual amount of crime committed in our city.

We all know that statistics can lie. At least by requiring so-called victims of crime to file an official police report, the real victims can be separated from the wolf criers and the resources of our Police Department can be put to their best use: fighting real crimes and encouraging real victims to come forward with crime reports.

ROBERT HEIDERICH

Ventura