By Ann K. Williams
Lookout Staff

July 27, 2011 – Crime was down in Santa Monica last year, and it cost a little less to fight it, police say.

The Santa Monica Police Department's 2010 Year in Review, published last May, which summarized last year's costs, crime statistics and programs, painted a bright picture of the state of policing in the city last year.

“(W)e experienced lower crime rates across the board when compared to 2009 and made significant findings in several major criminal investigations,” Police Chief Timothy Jackman said in the report.

“We have managed to be innovative with the deployment of our resources in order to meet our fiscal responsibilities, without suffering any major setbacks to safety or departmental advancement,” he said.

The report's crime statistics bear out Jackman's claims.

They fall into two categories – crimes against persons and property crimes.

Crimes against persons were down six per cent in 2010. There were one homicide, twelve rapes, 213 aggravated assaults and 164 robberies in the city.

Property crimes dropped 25 per cent. The biggest drop was in the number of thefts. Larcenies dropped 37 per cent in 2010. Burglaries and auto thefts were down too, by one and four per cent, respectively.

Things were looking somewhat better when it came to traffic, as well.

Driving Under the Influence (DUI) checkpoints, the “Click it or Ticket” seatbelt enforcement program and motorcycle safety programs helped keep Santa Monica's streets safer in 2010.

DUI fatalities have been going down since 2005, the report says. Drunk driving arrests dropped 16 per cent in 2010.

The total number of collisions went down too, from 1,845 in 2009 to 1,792 in 2010. Hit-and-run incidents dropped too, from 716 to 603.

But injury collisions went up from 579 in 2009 to 620 in 2010.

And collisions which involved pedestrians were up 6 per cent, reaching 112 in 2010.

There was one pedestrian fatality in 2010, down from three in 2009.

Police were working in “an anemic budget environment,” according to the report, and the department was faced with the challenge of tightening its belt while “support(ing) our mission of ensuring public safety and the sanctity of law.”

Overtime and equipment expenses were scrutinized while hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal Stimulus and Department of Homeland Security grants offset some cutbacks.

While the department's general fund totals for salaries and wages for Fiscal Year (FY) 2010-11 increased from the preceding year by .07 per cent, costs for equipment and supplies were brought down by 1.61 per cent, resulting in a total general fund decrease of .07 per cent. The general fund budget for FY 2010-11 was $67,020,359, of which salaries and wages accounted for $61,584,936.

Among employees, 78 worked in administrative positions. Of those, 58 were civilian and 14 were sworn officers. Operations and Special Enforcement accounted for 293 employees, while 54 worked in the Investigations Division and 10 in the Harbor Unit.

All told, 214 Police Department employees were sworn officers, and 198 were civilians.

One way police made the most of their resources was through shared record keeping, according to the report. Police departments throughout the state input crime information into an electronic system called California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (CLETS).

Santa Monica police can then use “Coplink”, a system that lets them “sift through a database of various types of police records, from traffic stops to murder investigations, to deliver a list of leads in just seconds,” instead of hours or days as in the past. Police also have access to a data base of local crimes that makes it easier for them to track down leads and suspects.

The department also continued to work with the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Secret Service Electronic Crimes Task Force. In addition, officers received training for Chemical, Biological, Radioactive, Nuclear and Explosive (CBRNE) Preparedness and Response, and related equipment was purchased with Homeland Security funds.

But these aren't the only programs keeping Santa Monica safe. Community Services Officers (CSO's) are civilian units that augment the force, making time for more personal interaction with the City's residents and visitors – the basis of community policing.

They patrol downtown Santa Monica, help with traffic control and are trained to step in in case of large-scale emergencies.

These and other units and partnerships are what Jackman said are the backbone of the city's safety.

“We are continuing to strengthen our partnerships with local, regional and federal agencies in other to achieve better results,” said Jackman.

“(W)hat we have learned throughout the process is that collaboration—whether for the daily functions of a patrol officer or the overall strategic goals of the department—will be the key to keeping communities safe now and in the future,” Jackman said.

To see the 2010 Year in Review, go to the Santa Monica Police Department website.