Santa Monica Police Explain What's Behind 61% Surge In Arrests

SANTA MONICA, CA — Santa Monica police say a dramatic increase in arrests this year reflects a department with more officers, expanded downtown patrols and greater capacity to pursue violations — rather than necessarily an increase in crime.

Arrests rose 61% through Oct. 24 compared with the same period last year, according to figures published Monday by the Santa Monica Police Department. But while officers have been making substantially more arrests, calls initiated by residents have actually declined.

The department recorded 4,402 arrests, up from 2,735 during the equivalent period in 2025, according to the latest edition of The Blue Notebook, its weekly account of police activity.

In response to questions from Patch, SMPD spokesperson Lewis Gilmour attributed much of the increase to staffing and operational changes introduced under the city's Realignment Plan, which has expanded the department's ability to conduct proactive enforcement.

"A major factor behind the increase in arrests was the department’s ability to do more proactive police work," Gilmour said Tuesday. "Under the City’s Realignment Plan, the Santa Monica Police Department reached full staffing, expanded its downtown deployment, and added resources to specialized enforcement teams."

The changes have allowed officers to devote more time to directed patrols, investigations and enforcement, he said, helping explain why arrest numbers have climbed far more sharply than calls for service.

Drug Arrests More Than Double

Drug enforcement offers perhaps the clearest illustration of that shift. Between January and September, drug-related arrests rose from 642 in 2025 to 1,408 this year — an increase of 119%, according to figures presented during the city's Oct. 13 Realignment Plan update.

But Gilmour cautioned against interpreting those numbers as evidence that drug crime itself has increased at the same rate.

"Officers often discover drug offenses during proactive police work, so those figures measure arrests and cannot establish how much underlying drug activity changed," he said.

Traffic enforcement has also intensified. Through September, traffic stops increased 63% compared with the same period last year, while arrests for driving under the influence rose from 124 to 164, an increase of approximately 32%.

The department's latest weekly bulletin offered an example of how routine enforcement can lead to other arrests. During a traffic stop in the 800 block of Broadway, officers recovered a firearm and arrested a person on suspicion of carrying a concealed firearm.

More Officers On Santa Monica's Streets

The increase follows a broader effort to rebuild city services through Santa Monica's Realignment Plan, adopted in October 2025. In an Oct. 15 update, city officials announced that SMPD had reached full sworn staffing for the first time in more than two decades. A new downtown police substation at Santa Monica Place also opened in May.

Gilmour said 13 officers had been assigned to the downtown area, while the department's Downtown Services Unit recorded 1,381 arrests through Sept. 26. Those officers work alongside patrol personnel, detectives and specialized teams, using crime reports and calls for service to identify recurring problems. The department's SMART Center provides real-time operational support.

A coordinated retail theft operation highlighted in the Nov. 9 Blue Notebook illustrates that approach. Officers from several units worked together on an operation that resulted in multiple felony and misdemeanor arrests involving theft, outstanding warrants and related offenses.

During the Oct. 18-24 reporting week alone, officers handled 2,114 calls for service and made 96 arrests.

Why More Arrests Don't Necessarily Mean More Crime

Despite the sharp increase in arrests, the department's figures reveal a more complicated picture of police activity across Santa Monica. Total calls for service rose 4.1% through Oct. 24, from 100,465 during the equivalent period last year to 104,610 in 2026.

Yet that increase was driven by officers themselves. Officer-initiated activity climbed 19.2%, from 40,728 to 48,562, while calls initiated by residents fell 6.2%, from 59,737 to 56,048. Gilmour said the increase in proactive police activity more than offset the decline in resident-initiated calls, producing the overall rise in calls for service.

He also emphasized that arrests do not necessarily correspond to crimes committed during the same reporting period. Some result from outstanding warrants or investigations into earlier incidents, while others arise when officers encounter violations during routine patrols.

That distinction is particularly important when comparing arrest figures with reported crime. The department's latest arrest statistics extend through Oct. 24, while the comparable crime figures cited by Gilmour cover equivalent periods through late September.

The city maintains publicly accessible crime statistics and interactive dashboards that allow residents to examine reported offenses by category.

Taken together, the figures point to a substantial increase in police enforcement activity, but do not establish whether underlying criminal activity has risen or fallen by a comparable amount. For SMPD, the explanation behind the arrest surge is largely operational: more officers, more directed enforcement and more opportunities to make arrests.

Whether those changes are producing a corresponding reduction in crime is a separate question — one that arrest totals alone cannot answer.