Police Hope Truancy Law Takes Bite Out of Burglaries

SANTA CLARITA — City officials and Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies hope a new city ordinance designed to cut down on truancy has an additional payoff--reducing the increasing number of daytime burglaries.

Statistics haven’t been calculated, but there is evidence that many daytime burglaries are committed by truant high school students, said Sheriff’s Sgt. Lee White.

The burglaries occur when truants are on the loose, and there are indications from what is taken that the burglars are youths, not professional criminals, he said.

“There’s very few professionals that worry about some of the things that are taken from these homes,” said White, a member of the Sheriff’s Department’s unit that handles youth crimes. He wouldn’t say which items are a tip-off, for fear of helping teenage burglars cover their tracks.

Sheriff’s Lt. Robert Elson predicted that limiting truancy will also cut into other crimes, including shoplifting, vandalism and narcotics offenses.

Very similar to the ordinance adopted by the city of Los Angeles in 1995, the one passed in August by Santa Clarita makes it unlawful for students under the age of 18 to be off campus from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Before the ordinance was adopted, there was little deputies could do to truants besides returning them to school with a stern warning.

Now, truants must appear in court and answer to judges empowered to delay some students from getting their driver’s license. First-time offenders are usually ordered to perform 16 hours of community service and repeat offenders may get double that amount, or pay a $250 fine.

The ordinance doesn’t spare parents of truants, requiring them to attend a class on parenting.

Deputies launched two truant sweeps in October, issuing 27 citations, and there will be more over the next six months, White said.

“As you look around now, you see fewer clumps of kids out,” said Michael Allmandinger, administrator of student services for the William S. Hart Union High School District. “They know if they are aimlessly wandering, they could be taken back to school. They may choose to stay at home instead, but that is better than being out on streets.”

Allmandinger agrees with the Sheriff’s Department that juveniles commit many daytime crimes in Santa Clarita. Still, he said, only 1% of the 13,000 students in his district may be truant on any given day and that means most of them are staying in school.