Increased Police Service
City residents are served by the:
- Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department
- California Highway Patrol (CHP), and
- Los Angeles County (Park) Police
Sheriff
The City of Santa Clarita contracts with the Sheriffs Department to provide police services to City residents. The City pays for and receives general law enforcement services and special investigation services at higher levels than those provided to residents of the unincorporated County. In many instances, the City has chosen to fund programs that are not offered by the County.
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More Police - There are significantly more general law enforcement patrols and special investigators in the City. The following table identifies the enhanced services provided to City residents:
|
General Law Enforcement Patrols
|
|
|
17 |
|
|
16 |
- Late Night Patrol Vehicles
|
8 |
|
|
Yes |
|
Special Investigations/Services Deputies
|
|
|
6
+ 1 sergeant |
- CIT (Community Interaction Team)
|
4
+ 1 sergeant |
|
|
5 |
- Community Relations / Domestic Violence
|
2 |
|
|
1 |
|
|
1 |
- Community Service Assistants
|
4 |
- Crime Deterrence - In the City, more police are patrolling the streets. More police are investigating gang activity. More police are interacting with the community. These efforts help to deter crime before it happens.
- Emergencies - City patrols will respond to emergency calls outside of the City. However, our communities are fairly far from the City, and it takes longer for one of these patrols to reach us. Regardless, this is only a benefit after an emergency has occurred. More patrols would help prevent an emergency in the first place. Also, City patrols will not respond to the more frequent lower priority calls, such as vandalism, trespassing, or burglaries. We have to wait for one of the few County patrols to respond, which can literally take hours. We would benefit from having the higher number of patrols in our community that the City would provide.
It is also important to note that similar to City patrols responding to an emergency in the County areas, County patrols will respond to emergencies in the City, further supplementing the City's high level of policing.
California Highway Patrol
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The CHP further supplements the City's police services. The CHP patrols the freeways and highways which pass through the City, including State Route 14 and I-5. The CHP also patrols the roads in the unincorporated County areas, roads such as Copperhil, which are frequently used by City residents.
We would continue to receive these law enforcement services if we annex to Santa Clarita.
County (Park) Police
The City's high level of police service is even further supplemented by the County Police, sometimes referred to as the Park Police. County parks are owned by the taxpayers of the County, which includes City residents. All County residents, whether in the City or not, have equal access to use these parks. The Park Police are responsible for law enforcement at County-operated parks located in the City, such Harte Park, and those County-operated parks located outside the City, such as Castaic Lake and Vasquez Rocks.
The Park Police serve all of the citizens of the Santa Clarita Valley. We would continue to receive the law enforcement services of the County Park Police if we annex to Santa Clarita.
Back to Enhanced Services.
Copyright ? 2007 Castaic Annexation Support Team. All Rights Reserved.
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