Approximately 1-in-3 parolees under California’s AB 109 law re-offend and are re-arrested, according to Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station figures, an official said Saturday.

“AB 109 has been around for just over one year, and we’re still measuring the effects,” said Deputy Josh Dubin of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station, when asked about the law’s impact on the local crime rate.

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Sheriff’s Department officials released valleywide figures Saturday that show a spike in Part-1 crimes in preliminary year-to-date figures for the Santa Clarita Valley.

The numbers reflect a 22.6 percent increase in Part-1 crimes, with a majority of incidents being burglaries or larcenies, and a 50.6 percent increase in burglaries in statistics for the station’s total patrol area.

Violent crimes are down 49 percent over last year, according to a valleywide, year-to-date comparison.

Station officials said an accurate citywide and countywide comparison wouldn’t be available until next week because the numbers released by the department don’t reflect a recent population change in the city.

“Our violent crime is extremely low compared to this time last year, but we have seen a slight increase in burglaries and larceny (in the city), compared to this time last year,” Dubin said. “However, often times these numbers even out as the year progresses.”

The department figures calculate the increase by looking at comparison of the number of incidents reported per 10,000 people, Dubin said.

Because the city recently added about 25,000 new residents with 10 square miles of annexation, any city-county comparison would be somewhat skewed, he added.

“The Crime Prevention Unit is monitoring the increase extremely closely and is working hand in hand with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station’s detective bureaus to get these numbers down,” he said.

A Part-1 crime can be a violent or property crime, including violent crimes such as murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault and the property crimes of burglary, larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft.

The five-year figures show a 10 percent drop in overall crime.

In 2011, Gov. Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 109 and AB 117 into law.

The move was aimed at helping California reduce the number of inmates in the state’s 33 prisons to 137.5 percent of design capacity by June 27, 2013, as ordered by the Three-Judge Court and affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

“We’re grateful for the support of the community and tips so that we have a strong partnership with the community,” Dubin said. “Together, the community and (the Sheriff’s Station) can partner together to reduce crime.”

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Article Name: Sheriff’s Department Releases Preliminary YTD Crime Stats 

Article Source: Santa Clarita News

Author: Perry Smith