Santa Monica Police Department
Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD) is the official police force of Santa Monica, California. Despite being hardly distinguished from the rest of Los Angeles, Santa Monica has its own police force that’s been operating and protecting the residents of the city for more than a century.
According to the latest numbers, the police force has around 470 members and operates on a yearly budget of almost $80 million. The legal jurisdiction of SMPD is the entire city of Santa Monica, with its 90,000 inhabitants and 16 square miles of land.
Locations & Facilities
333 Olympic Dr
Santa Monica, CA 90401
310 458 8491
Santa Monica Police Department can be found in the heart of Santa Monica at 333 Olympic Drive. It’s located right above the Pacific Coast Highway, right next to the City Hall, the courthouse, and Hilton Hotel. It also shares the building with the Santa Monica Fire Department.
Parking
Finding a parking spot next to the Santa Monica PD is not hard as right across the street on Olimpic Drive is the Civic Center Parking Structure with ample parking space. The rates are cheap, and you can leave your car there for the whole day if you want to visit some other places in the vicinity.
History
The Santa Monica PD was founded in 1897 when most of its officers’ work revolved around cracking down on drunkenness wherever it appeared in public.
This slowly started to change as time went on and as the city grew. And today, in the modern era, the police department deals with a lot more. SMPD officers are also instrumental in the city’s efforts to defeat homelessness, especially once they’ve stopped trying to eliminate the problem by constantly arresting people. They now strive to find homes for the homeless instead of continually charging them.
Besides that, the SMPD also prides itself on managing to crack down on drunkenness. They work with the people arrested for drinking and try to lead them away from alcoholism. Their efforts have had a staggering 25% success rate from 2006 until today.
However, it’s not all great. Santa Monica Police Department makes mistakes as well, like their recent work during the George Floyd protests when many businesses throughout the city were vandalized and robbed. The police failed to protect them adequately.
Past Police Chiefs
Santa Monica Police Department had had 15 police chiefs by 2012 when the current chief took the mantle. Here are the names of all past police chiefs:
- George B. Dexter
- Max K. Barretto
- Ellis E. Randall
- Fred W. Ferguson
- Clarence E. Webb
- Charles L. Dice
- Stacy Schmidt
- Joseph P. McClelland
- Hubert W. Hutchinson
- Otto M. Faulkner
- Earl F. Reinbold
- George Tielsch
- James F. Keane
- James T. Butts, Jr.
- Timothy J. Jackman
The current police chief is Jacqueline Seabrooks, the first female chief of police for the SMPD. Before her role in Santa Monica, she was the police chief in Inglewood.
Online Services
The Santa Monica Police Department has a great website you can use to file reports, find police reports, obtain traffic citation information, and so much more. Let’s take a quick look at some of the things you can do on their site.
File/Request a Police Report
Using this link, you can file several crimes like vandalism, lost property, and theft. However, if you’re in an emergency, you should always call 911 first.
Alternatively, you can also ask for a copy of an already filed report if you need it, but you’ll have to make a deposit as well. You can get the copy and all the information on how this works on this link.
File a Complaint/Give Feedback
Here’s a form you need to fill if you want to file a complaint or give any other form of feedback to the Santa Monica Police Department.
Pay a Parking Citation
The SMPD has also made it possible for the citizens of Santa Monica to pay their parking tickets via their site. Here’s the link to the dedicated online payment system.
You can also contest your citation if you feel you were wronged.
Jobs
If you want to start working at the Santa Monica Police Department, be it as a sworn officer or a regular civilian employee, you can learn all about the available positions on the Human Resources section of the city’s official website.
The SMPD currently has 233 sworn police officers and 250 regular employees. If you want to become an SMPD officer, you should know that you can expect a salary of $90,636 – $111,888, paid vacation, sick leave, personal leave, medical, and so much more.