Major crime in Santa Monica fell 12.5% last year, the city's police department reached full staffing for the first time in more than 20 years, and the prosecution rate on criminal cases climbed to nearly 90% — results that city officials on Tuesday held up as evidence that the sweeping Realignment Plan adopted in October 2025 is fundamentally changing how public safety is delivered in the city.
The data, presented to the City Council by Police Chief Darrick Jacob during a nearly four-hour meeting, showed improvements across every metric the department tracks, driven by what Jacob described not as a temporary surge but as a permanent cultural and operational shift within the Santa Monica Police Department.
"Public safety doesn't improve on commitment alone," Jacob said. "It improves when that commitment turns into action."
When Jacob took over as interim chief in late August 2025 — and was sworn in as permanent chief in January — the department was understaffed, reactive, and running below 40% officer-initiated activity. By February 2026, officer-initiated activity had climbed to consistently above 50% of all calls for service, meaning officers are identifying and addressing problems before they escalate rather than simply responding after the fact.
The year-over-year statistics are stark. Part I crimes — the FBI's category covering violent offenses and burglary — fell from 4,793 in 2024 to 4,194 in 2025, a reduction of 599 incidents. Total arrests increased 22.9%, from 2,804 to 3,446. Traffic citations more than doubled, rising from 2,835 in 2024 to 5,723 in 2025.
The months following the full deployment of the Realignment policing model in December 2025 showed even steeper acceleration. Monthly traffic citations averaged 1,200 during December 2025 through February 2026 — a 400% increase over the 2024 monthly average of 240. Weekly arrests climbed from 81 per week in December to 104 per week in February. Drug-related investigations more than doubled in each of the three months measured, rising between 118% and 169% depending on the month.
"This is not a target to be met, but rather a baseline that helps guide consistent proactive policing efforts across this organization," Jacob told the council.
Council member Dan Hall noted the timing of the turnaround. "Interesting how those numbers shot up with new leadership," he said. Jacob confirmed that he and his command team implemented the changes that produced the results.
A milestone that eluded the department for more than 20 years was quietly achieved in recent months: full sworn staffing. With the council's prior approval of 10 over-hire positions, the department has stabilized its ranks across patrol and specialized units. As of the meeting, the department had 23 background investigations open and had received 391 new applications since January 2026.
Chi said full staffing allows the department to deploy consistently rather than react to shortages, a structural change that underpins much of the crime data improvement. "For the first time in 20 years, the Santa Monica Police Department is fully staffed," Jacob said. "Stable staffing numbers allow us to deploy consistently, rather than to react to shortages."
The gains inside the police department have been matched by a parallel transformation in the City Attorney's Criminal Unit. Filing rates on legally chargeable cases climbed from a pre-Realignment level of 65–70% to approximately 88% from October through December 2025 — and Chi told the council the improvement had been significant enough that the courts had complained about caseload. "The courts have complained to our city attorney that we are clogging up the court system with the number of cases that we're filing," Chi said.
Von Tongeln told the council the improvement was the product of close coordination between her office and the police department, including roll-call trainings to ensure officers write police reports that meet legal evidentiary standards required for successful prosecution.
The council on Tuesday also approved several additional public safety measures as part of the broader Realignment update. The city authorized the city manager to negotiate and execute a memorandum of understanding with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority that would allow Santa Monica police officers to enforce fare evasion, conduct rules, and ridership standards on Metro train platforms within the city. Jacob said Santa Monica would be the first jurisdiction in the region to operate under such an agreement, noting that other cities contract with the county sheriff's department for Metro enforcement and receive inconsistent coverage.
A new downtown police substation at Santa Monica Place Mall began construction March 6, with a target completion date of late March, giving the department a permanent physical presence in the city's most active corridor. A real-time crime center known as the SMART Center, which enhances coordination between patrol, investigations, traffic, and city partners, is also operational and nearing a formal unveiling.
The council approved a new police captain position to oversee both the SMART Center and the combined Dispatch and Office of Emergency Management bureau, along with two additional lead public safety dispatchers to manage the increased volume generated by the surge in officer-initiated activity.
Jacob closed his presentation by connecting the statistical results to the residents behind them. "What matters most is the trust of the people we serve," he said. "Public safety is not the finish line. It's a commitment we make every day."