REPORT CITES 21% FALL IN CRIME : SANTA CLARITA AMONG CITIES SHOWING GREATEST REDUCTIONS.

Byline: Lisa Van Proyen Daily News Staff Writer

Serious crime in Santa Clarita dropped by about 21 percent for the first six months of 1996 compared to the same period in 1995, according to a new FBI report.

Santa Clarita is among the larger cities with the biggest crime reduction in the Los Angeles region, according to the report.

Overall, there were 1,650 crimes reported during the first half of 1996, compared to 2,086 during the same time in 1995, according to the preliminary FBI statistics.

The number of forcible rapes was nearly cut in half - with 15 reported in the first half of 1995 and eight during the same time period last year, the FBI figures showed.

Also significantly reduced were the number of burglary and larceny-theft cases throughout Santa Clarita.

From January through June of 1995, 508 burglaries were reported, compared to 359 in 1996. During the same period, there were 1,017 larceny-theft incidents in 1995, compared to 773 in 1996, the FBI said.

Capt. Mike Quinn, who commands the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station, credits the decrease in serious crime to the station's strong relationship with most of the city's estimated 130,000 residents.

``It's encouraging,'' he said. ``We have a great partnership between the community and the sheriff's station.''

He specifically pointed out the Neighborhood Watch program, Anti-Gang Task Force and the city's advisory committee.

``It's a whole bunch of things working together, coupled with over half of our personnel assigned to this station living in this community,'' Quinn said.

Plus, he said, about 8 percent to 12 percent of the people in the city commit the majority of the crimes. When these people are released from jail, the figures will fluctuate, he added.

Recently, deputies have targeted burglary and theft suspects, Quinn said. This may have left many of the repeat offenders in jail and lowered the figures.

The only crime Santa Clarita saw an increase in was arson - escalating from eight incidents in 1995 to 20 in 1996, the report showed.

Quinn was not sure what caused the increase, but said oftentimes unsolvable fires get classified as arsons because their origins are unknown.

Murder incidents remained the same, with one reported during the six-month period of each year. Aggravated assaults were nearly unchanged with 257 in 1995 and 251 in 1996. Vehicle thefts numbered 244 the first half of 1995, compared to 206 in 1996. And robberies were at 36 in 1995, compared to 32 in 1996, the report said.

Other large Southland cities that showed significantly reduced crime included Pasadena with a 27.5 percent drop, 24 percent in Simi Valley, and 20 percent in Riverside.

Nationwide, a 3 percent decrease in serious crimes was reported by law enforcement agencies, according to preliminary Uniform Crime Reporting Program figures released Sunday by the FBI.

The rankings are based on the individual cities' population in relation to the number of crimes reported in eight categories, including murder, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, auto theft and arson.