Following a regional trend, the city of Santa Clarita saw a dip in its Part I serious crime rate for 2010, with reductions over the previous year in homicide, assault, robbery, burglary, larceny, grand theft auto and arson.

Santa Clarita's crime rate was down 13.3 percent for Part I crimes, which includes a dramatic 75 percent decrease in homicides and a 50 percent decrease in arson. Violent crime was down 12.2 percent. Burglary dropped 18.6 percent and grand theft auto dropped 25.7 percent.

The city's full year overall Part I crime rate fell to 179 per every 10,000 residents, a number not seen in 23 years of incorporation.

"The decline in serious crimes across the board is a true testament to our successful work among the community, law enforcement, the city and the partnerships we've successfully forged with our residents and businesses," said Captain Paul Becker of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station. "Keeping Santa Clarita safe is a community-wide effort."

Becker assumed command of the SCV Sheriff's Station in March 2010. Becker immediately began working on a number of issues of importance to the safety of our community and the protection of our youth.

His aggressive efforts have included the forming of the Juvenile Intervention Team (J-Team) to address drug related crime and its impact on our youth, and the implementation of a successful new crime tip program. The process is now automated and provides a measurable and comprehensive system for the immediate assignment, tracking, and follow-up of every crime tip received by the station.

Additionally, an aggressive gang enforcement strategy, with a strong emphasis on juvenile crime prevention, has made an impact. An upcoming restructuring of the community relations unit at the station will allow deputies to focus primarily on crime prevention in an effort to provide timely crime trend information directly to our Santa Clarita residents.

Knowledge is power when it comes to preventing crime and Becker wants residents to have the same information in our neighborhoods as the deputies working the streets.