SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT TRACKS COMMUNITY RESPONSE.

Byline: Bhavna Mistry Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has begun monitoring its service to communities bordering Santa Clarita to see if there are inequities in police service between city and county areas.

Deputies are logging calls in Castaic, Stevenson Ranch and other unincorporated communities and will provide monthly reports detailing crimes, response times, calls for service and numbers of arrests to determine a base level of service.

``We wanted to see if there was a way to monitor the service (and) determine from that what we needed to improve,'' said Jean Huston, justice deputy for Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich's office.

The move came after some supervisors found that unincorporated areas near cities were not getting an equal level of service.

Santa Clarita, a city in Antonovich's 5th District, will pay the Sheriff's Department $11.1 million this year under its contract. Contract cities can order the level of service they want, as long as they are willing to pay for it.

But other communities under the county's jurisdiction want similar benefits.

``A few months ago, the 1st District and our district became concerned that unincorporated areas were losing out to contract cities,'' Huston said. ``It's something that we've found over a period of time.''

Huston said unincorporated areas suffer when sheriff's deputies assigned to contract cities call in sick, because deputies are called in from outlying areas to help meet the terms of those contracts.

``I get complaints from people every day,'' Huston said. ``Mostly, it's from the Santa Clarita and Antelope Valley areas.''

Residents of unincorporated Stevenson Ranch have complained they get short shrift when the neighboring city of Santa Clarita needs deputies, and they consider the new monitoring long overdue.

``I can tell you from my experience in the community that we have had serious problems that have not been addressed by the local law enforcement,'' said Keith Pritsker, a member of the the Stevenson Ranch Town Council. ``I believe that we are being underserved.''

Pritsker said he complained several times to the sheriff's station about a problem in his neighborhood and that he was dissatisfied with the response.

``It's my understanding that the residents in the city have considerable more service than we do in the Stevenson Ranch area,'' Pritsker added.

Mitch Milat, who heads the Stevenson Ranch Town Council security committee, agreed that the policing service in his neighborhood was lacking.

``A lot of residents feel that there's not nearly enough patrols out there,'' Milat said. ``There's not a lot of patrols other than on the main streets.''

Stevenson Ranch Town Council President Lorrie Baldwin said the monitoring was a good idea.

``They might as well have an idea of what their position is and what their needs are and see if they meet,'' Baldwin said. ``The needs are growing; it's a changing area. It's important for them to do.''

Once a base-line level of law enforcement service is determined, county officials will make adjustments to ensure that the unincorporated areas receive services they require, Huston said.

``We're trying to find ways to up the unincorporated areas without additional cost,'' she said. ``But it may lead to more funding for the Sheriff's Department.''

Sheriff's officials said the tracking began March 1 and that they expect it will continue indefinitely.

In Castaic, Town Council officials said they were pleased with the level of service they receive.

``I'm actually very satisfied,'' said John Kunak, who heads the council's safety committee. ``I can't imagine there can be any improvement, but I would never be against having additional services.''