Show of force gets jump on holidays
THIRD STREET — While Thanksgiving weekend typically kicks off the holiday shopping season, it seems the Santa Monica Police Department isn’t waiting until “Black Friday” to hit the streets in full force.
Since Oct. 1, additional officers have been assigned to the city’s most popular shopping districts — which include Montana Avenue, Main Street and the Third Street Promenade — in an effort to protect the hundreds of thousands of shoppers who are expected to descend upon Santa Monica in the coming months.
Normally, the deployment does-n’t occur until November, however, patrols are pounding the pavement ahead of schedule. The warm weath- POLICE PRESENCE, from page 1 er is attracting more visitors than usual, according to Interim Police Chief Mark Smiley.
“We have a lot of people who live around and visit Third Street and we want to provide extra security, with the ultimate goal of providing maximum public safety,” said Smiley, a 25-year-veteran of the SMPD. “This is an annual deployment. We’ve done this for as long as I can remember.”
Smiley is serving as the city’s top cop for the month of October while City Manager Lamont Ewell searches for a successor to former Chief James T.Butts Jr.,who left the SMPD in August to become chief of police for Los Angeles World Airports. Smiley is the department’s head of operations, which is responsible for overseeing all personnel within the SMPD.
Deputy Chief Phil Sanchez served as interim chief in September and Capt. Jacqueline Seabrooks is scheduled to take the helm in November.All three have shown an interest in becoming chief on a permanent basis.
Those familiar with the Promenade have noticed a difference.
“You see them everywhere now,”said Joanne Price,a frequent visitor to the popular shopping district, which attracts roughly 40,000 visitors a day.“They’ve really cleaned the place up. There aren’t as many homeless people sitting around. You just feel a whole lot safer. It’s great.”
Smiley said the homeless are not being targeted during the recent deployment.
“I don’t know if the number (of homeless) have decreased or not,” Smiley said. “But the bottom line is we are going to provide that presence on Third Street, and if officers need to respond to something of a certain nature, then they will, whether it involves homeless people or not.”
While the added police presence is most visible on the Promenade, merchants on Main Street and Montana Avenue — two of the city’s most popular places to shop, dine and drink — should also see more officers patrolling on foot, Smiley said.
The number of officers will vary depending on the time of day, the location and the number of people visiting the area. There will be anywhere from two to six additional officers in each location. Smiley said the officers were deployed last Sunday.
Funds from an existing, overtime account will pay for the early deployment, which is expected to last until just after Christmas, said Capt. Alex Padilla.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 11, 2006. Read the original PDF.