May
20
City Crime Rate Drops–Increased Youth Opportunities and Gang Enforcement Credited
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SANTA BARBARA, CA - 5/19/2008 - In a presentation held last Thursday before City Council, Police Chief Cam Sanchez announced that the serious crime rate fell dramatically last year, especially as compared to the five-year average. Chief Sanchez specifically cited the Part-One crime statistics, widely relied upon as an accurate indicator of overall crime activity. Part-One crimes include: Homicide, Rape, Robbery, Burglary, Auto Theft, Aggravated Assault and Larceny. Citywide, the 2007 Part-One crime rate dropped 3.5% as compared to 2006, and fell a dramatic 10.4% as compared to the previous five-year average. All law enforcement agencies are required to submit their Part-One crime statistics to the State, which releases a comprehensive report of Statewide crime trends and statistics. As a comparison, the State of California Part-One crime rate rose 3% between 2005 and 2006 (the most current statistics available.)
Citywide, 3,375 Part-One crimes were reported to SBPD in 2007. The five-year average was 3,847, with 2003 leading the way with 4,375. Chief Sanchez, although pleased with the significant improvement, believes much more needs to be done. He credits our local crime reduction with increased gang enforcement coupled with a community-wide emphasis on turning young people away from a deadend path of crime and gang life. Chief Sanchez states that “Unlike some other communities, Santa Barbara has the resources, the commitment and the will to make a difference in young people’s lives. We’re showing them that they do have choices, and better choices will lead to better lives.”
May
6
SANTA BARBARA, CA - On 04/29/08 at approximately 1:12 p.m., officers responded to Circuit City at 3761 State St on a suspicious circumstances call. Circuit City had reported that two Hispanic female adults and a Hispanic male adult were attempting to purchase merchandise with fraudulent credit cards. Officers and Detectives arrived on scene and contacted the females. The officers also received a description of the Hispanic male. The officers spotted a man matching the description exiting the business. He was detained and falsely identified himself but was later identified as Derrick Michael Marquez, 36 years of age. The two females inside the business were detained by the detectives and identified as Sheena Justine Santos, 22 years of age out of Long Beach, CA, and Jaime Lynn Walter, 23 years of age out of Norwalk, CA. All three were in possession of fraudulent credit cards. A Chevy Cobalt was located in the parking lot which belonged to Santos. Inside the vehicle was several bags of recently purchased merchandise form Sears, the Camarillo Outlets and other locations. There were also some duffel bags and purses inside the vehicle. All three subjects were transported to the police station.
During the follow-up investigation, detectives located several credit cards that were new and had been stripped of the original credit card number. There were several notebook sheets that contained hundreds of credit card numbers that were in the purses of the two females. There were label maker machines that were used to print out the numbers on the cards also located in their personal belongings.
Marquez was found to be out of Norwalk, CA and wanted for parole violation out of Los Angeles County. All three were booked at SB County Jail for Burglary, Possession of Fraudulent Credit Cards and Identity Theft. Marquez was booked on an additional charge of Parole Violation.