The Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff Station’s personnel have been very active in the community since my last message. I was very happy to report the arrest earlier this summer of Adrian Arriano, who has been charged in connection with two sexual assaults in our area, as well as residential burglaries. This arrest occurred as the result of excellent law enforcement performed by several of our station personnel and the resilient efforts of our residents, who stayed involved and offered valuable information.

We are very proud to announce the launch of the new Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s website (www.SCVSheriff.com). This website was made possible through our partnership with the City of Santa Clarita. The new Sheriff website is a dynamic informational resource, offering valuable crime prevention tips, referrals, online reporting, and E-alerts for important crime bulletins. There is even an area where you can sign up to get involved with the Neighborhood Watch program. Also featured on the website, the new “Ask Sergeant Harris” section provides an area where community members can submit questions relating to law enforcement or the Sheriff’s Department. Some questions will even be answered in the website’s forum by our experienced Department personnel.

City of Santa Clarita Sheriff’s Business Alliance officially got off the ground. We have scheduled two training classes for our business community related to bank robbery prevention and auto dealership fraud prevention. Additional classes will be featured in the coming months. For more information on the new City/Sheriff’s Business Alliance, please click here.

In August, we began addressing an ongoing significant problem in our area with the number of false alarms that deputies respond to on a daily basis. In 2006, Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station personnel responded to approximately 8,000 alarm calls that were found to be false. Unfortunately, these calls for service have a significant impact on our patrol resources. To address the needs of those alarm locations and encourage them to take better responsibility for their systems, we have prepared a new False Alarm Prevention guide, which offers assistance and information on maintaining an alarm system. With the City’s assistance, alarm customers will now be tracked electronically for false alarm calls and the City will be directly billing any location with three or more false alarms in a twelve month period. This new protocol should eventually free up valuable resources for response to emergencies and other community needs.

As promised, we released our Parent Guide to Teenage Parties last month, which assists local parents with planning and organizing parties for teenagers. The brochure provides resources and information on what to do when the party is hosted in your home, tips on events held elsewhere, and important information about the liabilities involved with hosting a party where minors are present. This new brochure is available online or at our station lobby.

The City of Santa Clarita and the Santa Clarita Valley’s Sheriff Station received the prestigious California Crime Prevention Program of the Year award by the California Crime Prevention Officer’s Association for its unique Fraud and Identity Theft Education (FITE) Program. The review committee was impressed with the program’s originality, community involvement, and its measurable impact on the community in reducing crime. The FITE training has already been given to more than 700 Santa Clarita Valley residents just this year.

With Halloween quickly approaching, I would like to remind all parents and children to follow some simple safety tips if you plan on participating in Halloween related events this year. Trick-or-treat only in your own neighborhood on well-lighted streets. Have a parent or older sibling go with you. Throw away any candy or food that is not wrapped by the candy company. If there are any suspicious treats, notify the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station. Another option is to go trick-or-treating at a local organized function, such as the one offered by the Westfield Valencia Town Center Mall on Halloween between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. Additional safety tips can be found on our website by clicking here: Halloween Safety Tips. Of course, I also invite you to attend our hauntingly fun event - the Haunted Jailhouse and Halloween Carnival, on Sunday, October 28, 2007, right here at the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station. More information is available on the “What’s Happening” section of our brand new Website.

Much more is planned this month as we kick off our annual Thanksgiving Gift Basket Drive in an effort to make sure all our residents are not without food during the holidays. On October 25th and 26th, we will hold our “Every 15 Minutes” driver safety and awareness program at Saugus High School. This program is aimed at reducing incidents of drunk driving and tragic accidents involving teenage drivers. Also, look for more information regarding our station’s annual Toy Drive coming soon, and find out how you can get involved this holiday season.

I would like to remind everyone that we all need to do our part to help reduce and prevent crime in our community. We continue to see an increase in the number of automobile burglaries and thefts from automobiles in the Santa Clarita Valley. As a result, we all need to work together to strengthen our partnership and avoid becoming easy targets of these property crimes. These thefts are generally occurring when residents leave electronic items, purses, wallets and other items of value in plain view inside their parked car. Many of the vehicles in these recent incidents were left unlocked or the window was smashed when the criminal opportunist looked inside and saw the valuable items.

Help us help you by taking a few simple precautions:

Call the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station, (661) 255-1121, at the first sign of anyone looking into several vehicles or loitering around them.
Call 9-1-1 if you see anyone tampering with automobiles.
Lock your car doors.
Remove garage door openers and all items of value, such as GPS devices, cell phones, computers, purses, and I-Pods if the vehicle will be parked in a driveway or on the roadway.
At the very least, the items should be placed out of view or locked in the trunk.
Car alarms can serve as a deterrent.
Residents should also ensure their main and side garage doors are closed and locked.

I urge all residents to follow these simple preventative measures if their car is going to be parked in any public area at any hour of the day or night. Our station will be releasing a public service announcement later this month to help raise awareness in how to avoid being a victim of vehicle related property crimes. You can also obtain more information from the latest press release posted in the News Room of our website. Working together we can make a difference.

The City of Santa Clarita and the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station regularly encourage Santa Clarita residents to consider careers with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and apply for job opportunities available in the Santa Clarita Valley. The Sheriff’s Department is now testing applicants interested in becoming a Deputy Sheriff or Custody Assistant. Applicants can now test, train, and work here in the Santa Clarita Valley. The next local test will be held at the College of the Canyons on Saturday, December 8th, 2007. For additional information, view this bulletin; visit SCVSheriff.com, the Department’s recruitment website or call 1-800-233-7889.

I hope that you find this message informative and helpful. Please take a moment to check out the new Sheriff website and let us know how we are doing!

Best regards,

Captain Anthony La Berge
Chief of Police for the City of Santa Clarita