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Capt. Paul Becker landed the position of chief of police for the Santa Clarita Valley station, bringing nearly 30 years of law enforcement experience with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to his new post.
"I'm very excited to be chosen as the chief of the Santa Clarita Valley Station and with my experience and enthusiasm for the job, I'll be able to work in making the great city of Santa Clarita even better," Becker said Friday. "I think I can help in bringing more to the city."
Becker replaces Capt. Anthony LaBerge, who was promoted to sheriff commander last month and who began his stint as the chief of police for the Santa Clarita Valley station in 2007.
Becker has a storied past with the Sheriff's Department.
For the first decade with the Sheriff's, Becker worked his way up from a deputy position to a lieutenant, then spent another decade as a detective. He has been in administration for the past nine years.
The Sheriff's Department is a family affair for Becker. He is married to Linda Becker, who oversees the Sheriff's Academy and is a stepfather to two sons who also are sheriff's deputies.
Some of his past work includes a watch commander position at the Palmdale station, the creation of a bomb-dog sniffing bureau to detect explosives and as a liaison for the county's board of supervisors where he worked on a study that brought an additional 105 deputies to unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County.
Becker was promoted to captain in January and began running the contract law enforcement bureau - 40 cities through the county contact with the Sheriff's Department for law enforcement services similar to Santa Clarita Valley.
"I made sure contracts were in place and police services were delivered," Becker said.
The past two years Becker worked in the sheriff's homicide bureau and ran the unsolved or cold-case murder team for Los Angeles County.
