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# There’s no place like your home
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/theres-no-place-like-your-home/
- Published: 2006-12-23T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T23:25:31.000Z
- Author: Melody Hanatani
- Tags: Crime, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*Don’t change that answering machine*

CITYWIDE — With the feel of a small town, where it seems everybody knows your name and everybody knows if you’re out of town, Santa Monica can be a pretty safe place to leave your home alone, according to the Santa Monica Police Department.

With pricey presents sitting under the tree and people leaving their homes alone for the holidays, the months of November and December can also be the most wonderful time of the year for burglars to cash in.

But that’s not necessarily the case in Santa Monica.

Regardless, police officers say residents should be vigilant this time of year if they’re leaving town and take extra precautionary steps to ensure the safety of their homes to prevent a real life version of the movie “Home Alone.”

“Santa Monica is a small community, so people tend to look out for each other,” said SMPD Lt. Alex Padilla. “We tell people to be more alert and aware of what is going on in the community.”

The most important precaution residents can take is to make their home appear as though someone is there, said Padilla. Make sure to suspend newspaper and mail deliveries. Overstuffed mailboxes and newspapers littering a driveway scream “I’m not home.”

“Notify a neighbor or a friend that can come by and check on the residence to make sure everything is secure,” Padilla said.

Many home burglaries in Santa Monica are opportunistic, not premeditated crimes where burglars plan elaborate schemes to break-in.

Statistics show that burglaries occur primarily between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. during the months of July and August, according to Ann Lindstrom, of the home and business security company ADT.

Still, residents should take as many precautionary steps as possible when leaving town. This includes measures like investing in high-quality deadbolt locks for exterior doors, putting up security system decals and signs, and using bars to secure basement or garage doors, Lindstrom said on Wednesday.

“Never leave an answering machine message indicating you’re not at home,” Lindstrom said. “Instead, just say you ‘can’t come to the phone.’”

The SMPD Crime Prevention Program instructs residents how to prevent crime in their neighborhoods through groups like the neighborhood watch.

“People have parties and have packages that might be displayed open in the front window that is inviting for someone to do Christmas shopping the easy way,” said Suzie Kim, Santa Monica Crime Prevention Coordinator.

> “PEOPLE HAVE PARTIES AND HAVE PACKAGES THAT MIGHT BE DISPLAYED OPEN IN THE FRONT WINDOW THAT IS INVITING FOR SOMEONE TO DO CHRISTMAS SHOPPING THE EASY WAY.” — Suzie Kim Crime Prevent Coordinator, Santa Monica Police Department

Around the holidays, members of a Sunset Park neighborhood watch group that covers 26th Street, between Pico Boulevard and Pearl Street, are extra vigilant.

“When we realize someone might be going out of town, we share that information,” said Siobahn Schenz, co-president of the neighborhood watch group. “We would be vigilant knowing there would be new property in their homes with nice gifts.”

Though burglaries are not too common in this neighborhood around the holidays, it doesn’t mean burglaries don’t happen at all.

“We had a woman’s purse snatched right out of a car while she was sitting in it,” Schenz said. “She’s about 85 years old.”

Twice a year, the Ocean Park Association invites a representative from the police department to come speak about crime in the neighborhood. The biggest crime in Ocean Park is home burglaries, said Ted Winterer, spokesman for the Ocean Park Association.

OPA member Joel Brand has lived in the neighborhood for about nine years and has neither seen nor heard of any suspicious activity around the holidays.

“Ocean Park is a tight-knit community,” Brand said on Friday. “We know when people are out of town. We definitely look carefully, especially with all those presents under the tree.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 23, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/122306.pdf?ref=smdp.com)