The Santa Clarita City Council’s Public Safety Committee is scheduled to host an update on crime and public safety concerns with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station captain.
The committee is made up of two of the five council members, currently Mayor Bill Miranda and Councilman Jason Gibbs. The meetings are an opportunity for city leadership, including City Manager Ken Striplin, to ask about any public safety issues, as well as the latest in station outreach and programs.
The city’s top cop, SCV Sheriff’s Station Capt. Brandon Barclay, also usually reviews the local crime numbers, which are published online by each station on a monthly basis. The overall number of Part-I offenses, which includes both violent and property crimes, decreased by nearly 15% in the latest numbers from the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department.
The local numbers indicate sexual assault and violent crime have increased in the city and its surrounding unincorporated areas, while property crimes are down significantly.
The number of violent crimes reported through the end of August, the most recent data available, indicates that figure is now at 257 reports in the city, an increase of 7% over the previous year. The total increase, including unincorporated areas, was 6.64%.
The largest single-category increase could be seen in sexual assaults, an increase experts have observed locally and regionally.
There were 20 in the first eight months of 2024 throughout the SCV, and 52 through the same time in 2025, a 238% increase.
There were two murders in 2025, with the suspects in those separate incidents at various stages of the criminal courts system.
Jack Minh Terry has a hearing next month for a murder charge connected to the February death of Menghan Zhuang, the Chinese national California Institute of the Arts student who went by Emily King and was killed in her Newhall apartment.
Gale Mortimer, 81, has pleaded not guilty in the strangulation murder of his wife, 80-year-old Penny Mortimer.
The report of violent crimes ticking up comes as property crimes did the opposite so far this year.
The numbers for burglaries (down 21.8%), larcenies (down 19.4%), car theft (down 4%) and arson (down 11%) all improved for the station.
The station also is planning a Coffee with a Cop event from 8:30 to 11 a.m. Wednesday in the Starbucks at 26480 Bouquet Canyon Road. The event is an opportunity for residents to meet with local deputies in an informal community setting.
