Achieving Safe Neighborhoods and Clean Streets

Public safety and civic cleanliness are the foundation of community confidence.

The city's Realignment Plan introduces a new deployment model for the Santa Monica Police Department, centered on creation of a Downtown Police Substation at Santa Monica Place Mall and an expansion of the Santa Monica Police Department’s Downtown Services Unit (DSU). 

Key actions include:

• Doubling the size of the DSU to include 8-10 sworn officers daily, supported by eight new Public Safety Officers providing a constant non-sworn presence across Third Street Promenade, Palisades Park, Tongva Park, Reed Park, and Downtown parking structures. 
• Overlapping patrol coverage with five additional officers daily in the Downtown core, ensuring visibility and responsiveness. 
• Integrating homeless outreach and social service support teams with public safety operations to address the 50 percent of service calls Downtown related to homelessness. 
• Authorizing 10 police over-hire positions to offset anticipated retirements and maintain sworn capacity.

Complementary initiatives have been developed as part of the Realignment Plan to reinforce these public safety efforts: 

• Relocating and re-imagining the SAMOSHEL homeless shelter into a new “healing center” model that integrates addiction treatment, mental health care, and transitional housing pathways. 
• Expanding the SaMo Bridge diversion facility to increase alternatives to incarceration. 
• Enhancing prosecutorial capacity within the City Attorney Office’s Criminal Unit, boosting misdemeanor case-filing rates to approximately 90 percent of legally fileable cases (about 3,500 per year). 
• Partnering with Metro to align enforcement at the end-of-line E Line platforms and improve transit safety. 
• Exploring new policy tools, including a potential Vehicle Habitation Ordinance modeled on San Diego’s balanced approach.

The Plan also launches a $3.5 million Downtown Capital Improvement Program, restoring civic identity through the following projects:

• Tree-canopy renewal (37 new trees, 403 tree-well upgrades) 
• Crosswalk and signage modernization 
• 20,000 square feet of sidewalk repairs and Promenade paver replacements 
• Trash receptacle replacement and safety barrier installations 
• Gateway landscaping, artist crosswalks, and fountain restorations

An additional $500,000 is allocated for targeted corridor reinvestments with Business Improvement Districts on Montana Avenue, Main Street, Pico Boulevard, and Ocean Park Boulevard. The program also includes new Vision Zero investments that will fund quick-build pedestrian-safety projects across high-injury corridors.