Santa Monica Saw Uptick In Crime In 2023: Crime Stats

SANTA MONICA, CA — The city saw an uptick in crime in 2023 compared to the year before, according to data released by the Santa Monica Police Department.

Police provided a summary of the city's 2023 crime data to the City Council this week. Here are some of the major points, with information provided by the SMPD:

There was a slight uptick in the most serious crimes. There was a 2.7 percent increase in Part 1 crimes last year. The most frequent of these crimes was larceny; there were 2,895 incidents of larceny last year.

Other Part 1 crime data:

• One murder, down from three in 2022
• 45 rapes, up from 39 in 2022
• 460 aggravated assaults, down slightly from last year
• 80 incidents of arson, down from 86 last year

There were 231 robberies last year, up from 222 the year before. Strongarm robberies were most the most frequent kind; the use of guns, knives and other weapons in robberies decreased last year.

Cases of burglary peaked in 2020 and have declined annually since then. Last year's 648 robberies marked a 3.4 percent decrease from the year before.

Grand theft auto has increased over the last five years. Last year there were 569 incidents of motor vehicle theft.

Part 2 crimes, which includes everything from fraud to public intoxication, increased seven percent last year. Simple assault was the most common form, with 859 incidents, followed by vandalism, with 730 incidents.

Last year Santa Monica police made 2,723 arrests, up from 2,438 last year. For comparison, police made 3,840 arrests in 2019.

Of those arrested last year, 67.57 percent were homeless.

Between 2022-23, there was a 9.68 percent increase in calls initiated by officers in a proactive manner. There was a 3.5 percent drop in calls initiated by citizens last year.

About 25 percent of all recorded service calls were initiated by officers. On average, homelessness-related calls account for 19 percent of all calls.

Palisades Park had the largest number of calls for service of any city park, with over 1,500.

The complete presentation on 2023 crime statistics is available here.