Perhaps one of the main reasons people move to Santa Clarita and stay here is the fact that it’s regularly named one of the safest cities in the country. SafeWise, the comparison website that reviews home security and conducts annual national reports on public safety, just named the city of Santa Clarita the 13th safest city in California for 2022. City and sheriff’s officials said public safety has been and remains among the top priorities here.
In ranking cities, SafeWise, according to its website, looked at reported violent crime rates and reported property crime rates in relation to city populations. Surprisingly, nine of the safest cities, wrote SafeWise’s Rebecca Edwards in an article for the site, have more than 100,000 people, and three of those, including Santa Clarita, have populations over 200,000.
“It’s really a team effort here,” said Capt. Justin Diez of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station. “It’s not just law enforcement. It’s our city officials. It’s our county officials. It’s law enforcement. It’s all our nonprofits out here. It’s our community-based groups. Santa Clarita is not the type of town that just sits back and lets things happen. I think that our town is an unbelievable example of grassroots efforts on all fronts.”
And that work that the community does, Diez said, is paying off. Santa Clarita jumped up from No. 14 last year on the SafeWise ranking to No. 13 this year.
Santa Clarita Councilwoman Marsha McLean said she and her colleagues are committed to these kinds of results, but that it’s ultimately about the feeling residents have here.
“Making sure our families always feel safe is a high priority for me,” McLean said. “With crimes soaring all over the nation, for Santa Clarita to actually move up a notch as one of the safest cities in America is a testament to how we are committed to investing in law enforcement programs and supporting the men and women in law enforcement who work every day to protect us.”
Other nationwide and statewide polls had Santa Clarita high on their lists for 2021. MoneyGeek.com named it the 17th safest city in America, AdvisorSmith named it ninth safest midsize city in America, and SmartAsset named it the fourth safest city in America. Time will tell how these organizations rank Santa Clarita for 2022.
“The end game here is high quality of life,” Diez said. “That’s what we’re always striving for in Santa Clarita. That’s why my wife and I moved out here before we had kids. That’s what brings businesses to Santa Clarita. That’s what brings parents to Santa Clarita to want to send their kids to school here.”
