SANTA CLARITA SLIPS TO 5TH-SAFEST CITY.

Byline: Orith Goldberg Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Santa Clarita's slide from the nation's fourth-safest city to the fifth-safest was subtle, largely the result of a statistical change rather than a crime wave.

Long ranked the fourth-safest of U.S. cities of 100,000 or more people, Santa Clarita fell to fifth - even though local crime dropped.

Taking its place as No. 4 is Daly City in the Bay Area, which only last year topped the 100,000 mark, becoming eligible for the annual FBI crime comparisons, Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Tim Peters said. Santa Clarita's population is an estimated 143,800.

``More people will purport an increase in crime,'' Peters said. ``As the population grows, the expectation is that more crime will be reported.''

The numbers aren't new - just newly publicized. They are based on 1998 crime figures reported last year. The No. 5 listing appears on the Santa Clarita Valley sheriff's station Web site.

Santa Clarita had 129 more reported crimes than Daly City, but surpassed its population by 40,000, Peters said.

``I still think we're a very safe community,'' Peters said.

Based on the FBI's crime statistics for 1998, authorities deemed Simi Valley the safest city, followed by Thousand Oaks; Amherst Town, N.Y.; Daly City, Calif.; Santa Clarita; Sunnyvale, Calif.; Burbank; Santa Clara, Calif.; Norwalk, Calif.; and Irvine, Calif.

Of at least nine of those cities, Santa Clarita had the highest reported population, with the closest being Irvine, ranked 10th safest with a population of 133,200.

On a positive note, the Sheriff's Department did report a 7.1 percent decrease in serious crimes throughout the Santa Clarita Valley in 1998 and 1999. The decrease was based on serious crimes tracked by the FBI.

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Photo: (color) Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Sammy Soehnel talks to occupants of a vehicle as the driver waits.

Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News