CITYWIDE The newspaper bandits have struck free weeklies and dailies in Santa Monica once again.
Thefts of free newspapers have been on the rise in recent weeks as the hard-copies have apparently been popular for a service other than informing the public.
The Santa Monica Police Department is investigating reports from the Santa Monica Daily Press that excessive amounts of its copies have been disappearing from news racks during the brief window from when the papers are delivered to when they’re picked up by the public.
Newspapers thefts have occurred sporadically throughout the past few years on the Westside, coinciding with the rising rates for recycled newspapers, according to SMDP Publisher Ross Furukawa.
The loss in distribution coupled with the impact of advertising can be costly for newspapers that suffer from the thefts.
“Most of our distribution is free and there is a significant cost to printing the newspaper,” Furukawa said, adding that the paper has been losing thousands of dollars a week as a result of the thefts.
Taking an inordinate amount of free newspapers was prohibited last year in the state of California when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a law that made it illegal to swipe more than 25 copies of a free paper with the intent to
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 6, 2008. Read the original PDF.