SANTA MONICA, CA — Arrests by Santa Monica police have surged nearly 64 percent so far this year compared with the same period in 2025, according to newly released department statistics that also show a substantial increase in officer-initiated activity despite a decline in calls from residents.
The Santa Monica Police Department's latest weekly report, published Monday, Oct. 12, shows officers made 3,988 arrests through Sept. 26, compared with 2,435 during the equivalent period last year. That represents an increase of 1,553 arrests, or 63.8 percent.
The rise significantly outpaced the increase in overall calls for service, which climbed 5.3 percent, from 90,588 to 95,405.
Officer-initiated activity, meanwhile, increased 22.4 percent, from 36,491 to 44,675, while resident-initiated calls declined 6.2 percent, from 54,097 to 50,730.
Together, the figures show that a growing proportion of police activity is being initiated by officers rather than residents, although the department's report does not establish what is driving the increase in arrests.
Crucially, the figures do not mean crime has increased by 63.8 percent. Arrest totals measure enforcement activity rather than the number of crimes committed or reported, and can be influenced by policing priorities, deployment patterns and other factors.
The department's latest report also details enforcement operations involving robbery, retail theft, narcotics and outstanding warrants.
During the week of Sept. 20-26, officers made 114 arrests, compared with 100 the previous week, while responding to or initiating 2,296 calls for service.
Among the incidents highlighted was a downtown retail theft investigation involving Lululemon and Nike, in which personnel at the department's SMART Center helped locate a fleeing suspect who had entered a parking structure. Officers from the Downtown Services Unit subsequently arrested the suspect near the 1500 block of Fourth Street and recovered merchandise from both stores.
In a separate narcotics operation, the Crime Impact Team, SMART Center, Homeless Liaison Program and Special Investigations Unit coordinated enforcement that began near the Fourth Street train station. Police said SMART Center observations near Lincoln and Olympic boulevards helped officers locate two people who were arrested in separate encounters involving narcotics and outstanding warrants.
The department's Homeless Liaison Program also reported 30 arrests during the week, alongside 25 citations, 113 instances of self-initiated activity and four referrals to shelter or service programs.
Those operations included arrests involving outstanding warrants, suspected narcotics offenses, parole violations and violations of court-ordered restrictions.
The year-to-date figures show Santa Monica police are making considerably more arrests than during the equivalent period last year, even as residents are initiating fewer calls for assistance.
However, the department's report does not establish whether the increase reflects expanded proactive enforcement, changes in policing priorities, shifts in criminal activity or some combination of those factors.
Nor does it provide a corresponding year-to-date comparison of reported crimes that would establish whether overall crime has increased or decreased during the same period.
The statistics cover activity through Sept. 26, rather than the entirety of 2026, and represent the latest snapshot in the department's ongoing weekly reporting.
The full report, including additional enforcement statistics and accounts of recent investigations, is available through the City of Santa Monica's Blue Notebook.
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