Capt. La Berge congratulated for keeping the city safe.

[view:node_ad=5]Tuesday night, the Santa Clarita City Council awarded our "Chief of Police," Sheriff's Captain Anthony La Berge with special recognition.

A 14.6% drop in crime rate, coupled with a 30% increase in arrests were among the more notable accomplishments during the Santa Clarita Sheriff's station's tenure under Capt. La Berge. An interactive website and recently launched business alliance have also contributed to the city's recent victories in the battle against crime.

Mayor Frank Ferry said that Santa Clarita would not be what it is today if the residents didn't feel safe. He went on to proclaim that the special recognition being given to La Berge is rare.

"We only give this thing away to an individual who's done something outstanding," he told the crowd.

Capt. La Berge (middle) flanked by City council members and local Sheriff’s officials.

"We're very fortunate," said Council member Bob Kellar. He continued, directly addressing Capt. La Berge; "We extend it to you, of course, but we also extend it to all the personnel at our station. 

After a round of applause for La Berge, our Captain took the microphone and immediately shared the credit.

"It's hard for me to hear ‘Capt. La Berge is responsible for this,'" he said, before introducing the SCV station's leadership team.

He continued by preparing the community for the future, citing that while the crime numbers are good now, tough economic times may present more challenges in keeping people safe.

"It's a safe community, but we can't afford to be complacent," he said. 

The rest of the Council meeting was predictably light, although there were some highlights.

The city officially passed a 10-year Master Plan for The Master's College. The passage comes after unanimous Council support for the plan in its initial reading on January 13th. 

Council members honored the city's economic development staff for winning the title of "Most Business Friendly City" from the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation.

The San Fernando Valley Council of Governments will now benefit from Santa Clarita's participation, as the Council voted in favor of becoming an official voting member of the organization, which aims to create a forum for open dialogue between cities with similar regional priorities.

A group of students from Canyon and Valencia high schools were successful in lobbying the Council to declare Thursday, February 12th "Red Hand day", to help bring awareness to the human rights struggle to prevent child soldiers from being drafted across the world.