CITY RANKS NO. 4 IN SAFETY CRIME RATE LOW DESPITE 17% HIKE IN 2001.Byline: Bhavna Mistry 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, - Santa Clarita has retained its place as one of California's safest cities, coming in at No. 4 based on statistics released Monday by the FBI. And while crime in the city jumped by 17 percent in 2001 compared with 2000, Santa Clarita still has bragging rights when it comes to its low crime rate. ``Safety is extremely high, if not the highest, priority for this city,'' said Gail Ortiz, a city spokeswoman. ``A safe city status is a No. 1 attraction, followed by schools, topography and beautification beau·ti·fy tr. & intr.v. beau·ti·fied, beau·ti·fy·ing, beau·ti·fies To make or become beautiful. beau - those are the things that bring people here. It's a big attraction.'' In 2001, the city reported a total of 3,161 major crimes - homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault A person is guilty of aggravated assault if he or she attempts to cause serious bodily injury to another or causes such injury purposely, knowingly, or recklessly under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life; or attempts to cause or purposely or , burglary, larceny larceny, in law, the unlawful taking and carrying away of the property of another, with intent to deprive the owner of its use or to appropriate it to the use of the perpetrator or of someone else. and auto theft. There were 2,681 crimes in 2000. When tallied against the fast-growing population, the city had a crime rate of 2,054 per 100,000 people, making it the second-largest city in the list of the top 10 safest cities statewide - and the safest city in 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 of 100,000 or more. ``It's amazing for a city of our size with a population of over 158,000 that the other cities don't even come close,'' Ortiz said. ``We have a relatively strong growth rate, but have maintained a high level of safety. ``This is in large part due to an extremely proactive community, City Council and Sheriff's Department,'' Ortiz added. Santa Clarita ranks behind 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. , Thousand Oaks and Sunnyvale. Other top cities in the state in terms of safety include Daly City, Santa Clara, Glendale, Burbank, Orange, Ventura, Norwalk and Irvine. ``The credit goes to the City Council and their focus on youth and the community, for being vigilant and being aware of what goes on in their city,'' said Capt. Don Rodriguez, commander of the Santa Clarita Valley The Santa Clarita Valley is the valley of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. It stretches through Los Angeles County and Ventura County. Its main population center is the city of Santa Clarita. The valley was part of the 48,612-acre (19,672. sheriff's station. ``Credit goes to us for identifying what goes on so that we don't have serial crimes here, and the great work the patrol deputies and detectives do in arresting and prosecuting the suspects.'' CAPTION(S): box Box: SAFEST CITIES SOURCE: FBI |
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