Reducing Crime and Connecting with the Community

August 8, 2019 9:00 AM
by Cynthia Renaud

This article originally appeared in the August edition of Seascape.

Hello, Santa Monica! It’s difficult for me to believe that one year has already passed since I was sworn in as your new police chief. When I joined the Santa Monica Police Department, our City was battling an overall increase in crime, and as a team, we were challenged with finding new and effective means to combat this trend. In the May 2018 Seascape, I shared with you some of the strategies SMPD would be implementing to combat crime and ensure a better perception of safety in our community: higher visibility of patrol officers, new protocols that would give supervisory staff the additional resources to immediately address crime, and changing the way we evaluate and analyze our crime data. Lowering crime has been one of our top goals since I joined this community, and as it’s now a little bit past our halfway mark for 2019, I wanted to update everyone on how our crime-fighting strategies are working.

The City of Santa Monica is down 8% in our Part I crimes (Violent Crimes - aggravated assault, forcible rape, murder, robbery / Non-Violent Property Crimes - arson, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft). At this time last year, we had 1,991 Part 1 crimes. This year, we have had 1,832, a decrease of 159 Part 1 crimes. We are seeing the most notable decreases in aggravated assaults, which are down 35%. Burglaries, both residential and commercial, are down 16%. Robberies have declined by 3% and larcenies are also down 4%. Our vehicle burglaries, however, are still trending upward. SMPD will not be able to reverse this upward trend in vehicle burglaries by ourselves. We must work together if we want to drive down crimes of opportunity in our City! If we can convince everyone to lock up their possessions, keep their valuables out of sight, be aware of their surroundings, and report any suspicious activity to their neighborhood police officer, we will continue to drive crime down and increase safety here in Santa Monica. And along with securing your own personal possessions, please remind your neighbors to do the same!

What the Santa Monica Police Department will be focusing on in the upcoming months is strengthening our connection with, and our availability to, all of you. In my first year here, we have prioritized filling our vacant positions so our community can see more officers in their neighborhoods. We converted our part-time Mounted unit into a full-time, patrol-based team, and our Community Affairs Unit and Neighborhood Resource Officers are now fully staffed and able to be the voice of the neighborhoods they represent. We have welcomed 19 new officers into the organization and have dedicated a team of Public Safety Officers to our parks and Pier and Harbor Guards to our pier. Our crime analysis unit provides our patrol officers and crime impact teams with specific and detailed information on crime trends, which is critical in ensuring that our resources are deployed in the areas of greatest impact. And with your help, we can do more. Get involved with us, get to know us, secure your own property and remind your neighbors to do the same.

Authored By

Cynthia Renaud
Chief of Police