3 Valley-Area Cities Ranked in Top 10 of Nation’s Safest

Santa Clarita, Glendale and Burbank were ranked among the top 10 safest places in the United States among cities of 100,000 or more, according to federal officials.

Santa Clarita took the No. 5 spot, Glendale placed ninth and Burbank was No. 10.

Santa Clarita, which is patrolled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, benefits from its distance from the city of Los Angeles, said Sgt. Steve Gurlitz of the Santa Clarita station.

“We’re a valley away,” Gurlitz said. “There is an insulation there. Whenever you have a smaller community that’s fairly tightknit and not as accessible to criminals, it makes it easier [to keep crime out].”

Glendale Police Sgt. Rick Young credited the city’s ranking in part to good law enforcement.

“We have not allowed gangs to take control of any part of the city because we don’t overlook the little things,” Young said. “We know once gangs take over, it’s hard to get rid of them. So we jump on them and stop them from getting started.”

Young also noted that Glendale is “a nice area, although freeway access to the 5, the 210, the 134 and the 2 can bring lots of problems for us if we don’t watch it.”

In the national standings, California cities captured 11 of the top 12 positions. Simi Valley was ranked first, followed by Thousand Oaks.

Simi Valley or Thousand Oaks has ranked first for safety among the nation’s cities with at least 100,000 residents nine of the past 12 years.

“You bet we take pride in being No. 1,” Simi Valley Mayor Bill Davis said. “Our Police Department watches it very closely, and they always give us the ranking as soon as it comes in.”

Times staff writer Daryl Kelley contributed to this story.