Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department - Santa Clarita Valley Station

If you, a loved one or a family member have been arrested by or are being investigated by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LAPD), Santa Clarita Valley (SCV) Station, it can cause a lot of anxiety. 

Facing such a situation, it can be valuable to know the bail amount (if any) associated with the offense if police deny an own recognizance (OR) release.  It is also helpful to know what evidence is needed to convict one for the crime that allegedly took place, the defenses possible and the sentence a judge can impose if one is convicted of the crime. 

We at Greg Hill & Associates believe it is wise to know a few more things before interacting with any branch of law enforcement.  It can be good to know the size of the police or sheriff’s department, the area’s demographics, the most common types of crimes the department investigates and just a bit about the area’s history to make one’s communication with law enforcement more meaningful, more savvy and perhaps, more respectful.  This can lead to a better outcome than if one lacks such perspective.

This article is presented with these goals in mind.

The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, Santa Clarita Valley (SCV) Station, has an unspecified number of sworn police officers and an unspecified number of civilian support personnel assigned to it. 

The SCV Station is responsible for patrolling areas of the Angeles National Forest, Bouquet Canyon, Canyon Country, Castaic, the City of Santa Clarita, Gorman, Hasley Canyon, Newhall, Neenach, Sand Canyon, Santa Clarita, Saugus, Six Flags Magic Mountain, Sleepy Valley, Southern Oaks, Stevenson Ranch, Sunset Point, Tesoro del Valle, Valencia, Val Verde, West Hills and Westridge.

The SCV Sheriffs recently (2021) moved their headquarters into a new 46,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art station on Golden Valley Parkway.  It has a detached 4,000-square-foot vehicle maintenance facility to repair vehicles on-site, a heliport, 9-1-1 dispatch center, a jail and enough space to house the entire Sheriff's team.

The new station replaced the former 25,100 square-foot station located at 23740 Magic Mountain Parkway.  The former station opened in 1972, and at the time, the population of the Santa Clarita Valley was at 50,000.

As of July, 2018, the estimated station service area population was 293,000 residents and rapidly growing to 300,000, which would be six times the population for what the original station was originally built for. 

For arrests arising along the I-5 Freeway, the California Highway Patrol has such jurisdiction.

On April 5, 1970, four CHP officers were shot dead by two heavily armed career criminals at a Standard Gas Station in present-day Valencia.  The shootout was the deadliest attack on law enforcement in California history.  As Valencia had barely been developed, it came to be known as the “Newhall Incident.”  One of the perpetrators was sentenced to life in prison; the other committed suicide.

In the aftermath of the incident, policing was transformed nationwide—police training and weaponry were improved and bullet proof vests became widespread.

Santa Clarita was devastated by the 1994 Northridge earthquake.  The Newhall Pass interchange, of the I-5 and CA-14 collapsed, and Sierra Highway became the only route in and out of the valley; Sierra Highway was soon closed as well.  Several surface streets throughout the city were closed due to structural damage.

Most cases arising out of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Santa Clarita Station’s areas of responsibility are brought at the Valencia Courthouse (also called the Santa Clarita or Newhall Courthouse) or the San Fernando Courthouse, but some are also brought at the Clara Shortridge Foltz criminal courts building (CCB) at 210 West Temple Street in downtown Los Angeles.  Cases that may be filed at CCB instead of at the Valencia or San Fernando Courthouses would be very serious cases needing specialized prosecutors trained in handling such cases.

Over the last 25 years, our office has handled over fifty cases arising out the Santa Clarita Sheriff’s station and brought in the Newhall or San Fernando Courthouse.  Such cases vary from DUI to domestic violence, to shoplifting, to possession of drugs for sales, to violations of criminal protective orders to burglary.