By Ken Striplin
Santa Clarita City Manager
Safety in Santa Clarita is a community-wide effort. The City’s partnership with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff ’s Station and a data-driven approach to public safety have resulted in consistently low crime and traffic collision statistics, despite the challenges brought by a growing population. Over the years, residents have continued to enjoy a high quality of life and a safe community, thanks to the role each of us plays in achieving these goals on a daily basis.
By now, you are familiar with the City’s award-winning “Heads Up” traffic safety campaign, which launched in 2017. Created by the City’s Traffic Safety Team, which includes staff from the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff ’s station, City traffic engineers and members of the communications team, the campaign blends engineering, enforcement and education to help reduce the number of traffic incidents in Santa Clarita.
The Heads Up campaign is multi-faceted and covers best practices for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. It includes proactive steps that residents can take to reduce the risk of accident and injury, such as wearing clothes that make you more visible while riding your bike, only crossing the street at designated crosswalks and disconnecting from distractions when behind the wheel.
Since 2019, the collision rate in Santa Clarita has been down 9%, collisions involving pedestrians are down 21% and collisions involving cyclists are down 11%. By exhibiting safe behaviors as a driver, cyclist or pedestrian, you help keep streets in our City safe for all users. I encourage you to visit the City’s Heads Up website at santa-clarita.com/HeadsUp and discuss the safety tips with everyone in your household.
Personal safety is just part of the equation when it comes to keeping Santa Clarita safe. It is also necessary to take steps to secure your property and deter would-be thieves. By taking an extra moment to ensure your vehicle is locked when you park and hide your valuables, you can help reduce instances of property theft from vehicles. You also make it much less likely that your car will be stolen when you lock your car and take your keys with you. In fact, the National Insurance Crime Bureau reported that from 2016 to 2018, keys left in cars led to 209 vehicles being stolen every day. The City is partnering with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff ’s station to shed light on this disturbing trend through the “Guard That Auto” campaign. Guard That Auto reminds residents to lock their car doors, use a security device and park in well-lit areas to ensure they don’t become a victim of vehicle theft. You can get more information on this campaign by visiting santa-clarita.com/GTA.
I applaud the diligence of the Sheriff ’s personnel in our City and our residents’ proactive approach to help reduce crime even further. Together, we will ensure Santa Clarita remains the safe and welcoming City we all love.
Ken Striplin can be reached at [email protected]. The views expressed in his column are those of the City and do not necessarily reflect those of The Signal.
