Following more than a decade of historic crime rate reductions, Part I crimes in Santa Monica fell an additional 9% from 2003 to 2004, according to Uniform Crime Report (UCR) statistics compiled for the California Department of Justice.  These significant 2004 crime reductions, which police attribute to increased community involvement in police planning, particularly through Neighborhood Centered Policing, bring total Part I crime figures to their lowest level since 1957. 

In 1993, after a nearly continuous string of annual crime increases, Santa Monica experienced its highest crime rate ever; with a combined total of 10,891 Part I crimes.  Since then, Part I crime has steadily decreased over 62% to 4,095 incidences, with all categories of crime showing substantial decreases.  Auto Theft is down 76% since 1993 and 78% since its all-time high in 1991.  Larceny fell nearly 13% from the prior year’s levels and 62% from its high in 1993, posting lower numbers than any time going back to 1956.  In fact, all property crimes together declined over 62% since 1993 to pre-1957 levels.

Homicide figures from each decade back to 1956, when the Santa Monica Police Department first began numerically recording UCR data, provide a revealing picture of community safety for Santa Monica residents in the 21^st Century.  The average number of annual homicides committed in Santa Monica in the last four years of the 1950’s was over seven, a number that rose to well over eight in the decade of 1960’s and to nearly ten per year through the 1970’s.  While the eighties saw the average fall somewhat, too slightly under nine per year, homicides declined through the 1990’s to an annual average of less than seven.  The first five years of the 21^st century saw the average drop sharply to nearly three homicides per year, with four of those years being among the six lowest on record.  The two homicides recorded in 2004 appear in stark contrast to the record-high 17 homicides committed citywide less than 25 years ago in 1980.