CITY CALLS ON FBI TO RANK IT 1ST 8TH-SAFEST NOT GOOD ENOUGH.Byline: Heather MacDonald Staff Writer SANTA CLARITA Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, - Upset that Santa Clarita has dropped several spots on the annual ranking of the nation's safest cities, city officials have petitioned the FBI to change the way it reports crime statistics. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. city officials, Santa Clarita should only be compared with cities that have a population of more than 150,000, which would rank the city first - instead of eighth. City Manager Ken Pulskamp and local leaders said Friday that being known as the safest city in the nation would help boost Santa Clarita businesses, increase home values and add to residents' peace of mind. ``We are not playing games with the numbers,'' Pulskamp said. ``However you calculate it, for a city of our size we are the safest city in the nation. That's what's important.'' The FBI and other crime experts dismissed Santa Clarita's request and defended the way the annual Uniform Crime Report is compiled, saying that including all cities with more than 100,000 residents gives the best picture of trends and emerging problems. ``It's not an arbitrary decision, but one that is based on mathematics and science,'' said Special Agent John Iannarelli, a spokesman for the FBI. ``The data give the American people An American people may be:
Twenty-one of every 1,000 Santa Clarita residents were victims of some type of major crime in 2002, bumping the city's ranking to sixth, according to calculations by the Daily News using population estimates from the Census Bureau Noun 1. Census Bureau - the bureau of the Commerce Department responsible for taking the census; provides demographic information and analyses about the population of the United States Bureau of the Census and the FBI report. The FBI compiles crime data from cities of at least 100,000 - but does not compare cities or determine crime rates. The bureau only publishes raw numbers of crimes, and under that method, Santa Clarita is No. 8. ``It appears that Santa Clarita is petitioning the FBI to change the way it reports crime to a way that is favorable to them for marketing purposes,'' said Steve Galeria, the manager of the California Department of Justice's Statistical Analysis Center. The FBI's methods give an accurate picture of crime trends in the nation's big cities, Galeria said. ``What's next? Someone could say make the cutoff 200,000 population, and Santa Clarita wouldn't even be included,'' Galeria said. ``Why not make it 1 million? It could go on and on, and be completely meaningless.'' Based on the number of crimes, Santa Clarita ranked in 1996 as the third- safest city in the nation, behind perennial winners Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. and Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. . But the city has fallen steadily in the rankings since then, coming in fourth in 1997 and 1998, sixth in 1999 and 2000 and eighth in 2001 and 2002. ``Our ranking has dropped not because the amount of crime in Santa Clarita has increased, but because every year there are more cities that have a population of 100,000,'' Mayor Cameron Smyth Cameron Smyth is a Republican who has represented Califoria's 38th Assembly district since December of 2006. He succeeded Keith Richman who was term limited. Prior to being elected to the state legislature, Assemblyman Smyth served on the Santa Clarita City Council, where he said. ``It's not the most equitable comparison that could be made.'' In 1997, there were 219 cities with populations of at least 100,000. In 2002, there were 235, according to the FBI. With a 2002 population of 158,289, Santa Clarita was the biggest city of those ranked in the top 10, according to the FBI report. By comparison, Simi Valley had a 2002 population of 111,351. City officials are especially proud that the city's crime rate remains steady, despite an average population increase of about 3 percent each year, Pulskamp said. This isn't the first time Santa Clarita officials have taken issue with rankings based on the FBI's crime report. In 1998, city spokeswoman Gail Ortiz accused Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks officials of under-reporting crime in order to boost their rankings - a charge Ventura County officials called sour grapes. The dividends from being known as the safest city in the nation are especially important as the city struggles to insulate itself from the state budget crisis, local leaders and officials said. Reluctant to increase taxes or impose new fees on residents but unwilling to reduce the level of city services The examples and perspective in this article or section may represent an unduly geographically limited view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. , the Santa Clarita City Council is looking to boost revenues painlessly by increasing sales tax sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge by the retailer, who remits the tax to the government. receipts. ``I believe people shop where they feel safe,'' said Don Fleming Don Fleming is the name of:
Tacie Jares, a real estate agent, said she constantly fields questions from prospective home buyers about whether their families would be safe in Santa Clarita. ``That No. 1 ranking would mean a whole lot,'' said Jares, who is also the president of the Santa Clarita division of the Southland Regional Association of Realtors. ``People want to know that they are going to feel safe walking in their neighborhoods at night. It's very important.'' Jack Kyser, chief economist The Chief Economist is a single position job class having primary responsibility for the development, coordination, and production of economic and financial analysis. It is distinguished from the other economist positions by the broader scope of responsibility encompassing the for the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County Economic Development Corp., said the crime rate is also a tool cities use to convince businesses to relocate, a major focus of Santa Clarita's economic development effort. ``It's one of many things that companies look at when deciding whether to relocate, and Santa Clarita does well on all of them, such as schools, home affordability and transit opportunities,'' Kyser said. But few companies, if any, would be put off by the fact that Santa Clarita is ranked eighth instead of first, Kyser said. ``Santa Clarita shouldn't quibble QUIBBLE. A slight difficulty raised without necessity or propriety; a cavil. 2. No justly eminent member of the bar will resort to a quibble in his argument. about the rankings,'' Kyser said. ``If you're the eighth safest city in the nation, that's impressive enough.'' Heather MacDonald, (661) 257-5257 heather.macdonald(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): box Box: RISING CRIME Sources: FBI, California Department of Finance The California Department of Finance is located in Sacramento, California. It is responsible resource allocation for the state’s annual financial plan. As part of the executive branch of the state, it is within the fold of the governor of California's administration. , city of Santa Clarita |
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