At last night’s City Council meeting, Sheriff Captain Anthony LaBerge told the community that while the City of Santa Clarita has seen a decrease in crime during his tenure, “we can’t afford to be complacent.”
Complacency was the last thing on the mind of some good people in Valencia who, according to the Sheriff’ Station, have been circulating their own “Beware” poster since late January after a “suspicious” red van was spotted in their neighborhood. The poster was emailed widely, sparking a “frenzy” among some in the community.
I’ll let the real cops take over from here:
Recently, e-mails have been rapidly circulating throughout the Santa Clarita Valley area containing a publicly created flier with unsubstantiated information about a maroon colored van possibly casing Santa Clarita neighborhoods. This e-mail, entitled “suspicious van in Valencia (Be careful)”, contains this unofficial flier.
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Are they so bored in Valencia with their banal lives they have to make up (grammatically atrocious) threats to keep it interesting, or was there reason to be suspicious of this van, to the point where they decided to print up flyers describing the individuals and listing their license plates? I see vans all the time in Newhall, but I don’t run to the Kinkos to warn people!
And what about the recipients of said email who passed it on and started the “frenzy?” Am I the only one who is suspicious about forwarded emails? Do these same frenzied residents transfer sums of money to that guy who emailed them claiming he was the son of a rich Nigerian doctor?
This isn’t the first time this has happened in Santa Clarita either. I can recall at least three previous episodes where emails circulated widely throughout the community, alerting residents to some scary threat. What’s that say about us?
Alls well that ends well, however.The Sheriff’s Station have checked this van out and determined that there’s nothing to be worried about:
The Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station has conducted an investigation into this van and the information listed in the flier. The license plate provided in the call and on the flier was off by one digit. We have identified the van and its registered owner as a legitimate licensed business operating out of Moorpark California. The business deals in the demonstration and sales of a specific brand of vacuum cleaners. They generally conduct demonstrations by appointment only and also canvas neighborhoods when in the area in an effort to generate interest and sales.
The Sheriff’s Station should be proud of itself. They’ve conditioned us well, so well in fact we’re now overly cautious, seeing threats where there are none. They have a motto over there on Magic Mountain Parkway: “If you see something, Say Something!” and Valencia sure did say something. But in the future, the Sheriff Station asks that you say something to the cops before you hit forward on your email, mmkay?
The creating of these types of bulletins, fliers, and e-mails can cause undue fear or even panic. It can also potentially lead other community members to take inappropriate or unlawful action that may result in civil or criminal liability on the part of the creator.
Although the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station encourages public involvement and awareness and we encourage all residents to call us when they see suspicious persons or vehicles in their neighborhoods, we also advocate responsible reporting and distribution of information when it comes to potential crimes or persons and vehicles of interest.
Once again, that number is 661-255-1121. Put it in your phone now. I think you can even text them these days, so if you see something, call or text them before you go all Valencia Vigilante.
Remind me not to look suspicious when I’m riding through Valencia!