Artist's drawing of T.O. suspect Let's reduce crime in the coming year.

Here's how, with your assistance, the Thousand Oaks Acorn can help make our city safer:

For the most part, Thousand Oaks is still a bedroom community. A majority of Conejo Valley residents work somewhere else, such as the San Fernando Valley or Los Angeles. Consequently, many commuters roll with the flow of rush hour traffic on the 101 Freeway, going east in the morning and into the sunset in the late afternoon or early evening.

Many of them, just like Americans everywhere, are inundated with news on TV, radio and the Internet. Those may be good sources for state, national and international news, but they aren't so hot for local information.

That's where we come in.

It's our responsibility as your community newspaper to keep you informed about crime, not only with your tips, but with our comprehensive Sheriff's Blotter and with separate news stories about significant incidents or trends that we notice in the Blotter.

The Thousand Oaks Police Department and the Ventura County Sheriff's Department help by taking a proactive role in keeping us informed about local crimes, so that we, in turn, can tell you.

Think of it as a triangle. At the top is you, the reader. Sharing the other two spots are law enforcement and us, the Thousand Oaks Acorn. The police tell us what's happening and we tell you.

Last week, we ran on page 1 an artist's drawing of a male suspect who's been indecently exposing himself on the north side of T.O. for a long time, and who recently tried to grab a female student at California Lutheran University. His drawing is shown again here.

Let's get this guy before he goes further.

Call the authorities at (805) 654-9511 if you think you know who he is.