ACTION Apartment Association - Santa Monica Police Twice as Slow to Arrive than in Comparable Southern California Cities, Audit Finds

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Santa Monica Police Twice as Slow to Arrive than in Comparable Southern California Cities, Audit Finds

Santa Monica Police Twice as Slow to Arrive than in Comparable Southern California Cities, Audit Finds

01/24/2018 8:53 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

January 23, 2018 -- On average, Santa Monica police took more than half an hour to respond to calls for assistance in the 2016-2017 fiscal year, twice the average time reported by comparable Southern California cities, a new outside audit of municipal services has found.

Preliminary findings by the auditors for Moss Adams reported the average response time for Santa Monica police was 33.2 minutes last fiscal year, a finding the Police Department disputes.

The average among the peer cities scrutinized was 16.8 minutes, auditors said.

And, although Santa Monica is not known for major crime, the rate of serious crime per resident was 58 percent higher than the average among peers, auditors said.

In Santa Monica, 363 residents (per 100,000) were victims of serious crime in 2016-2017, compared to the average of 230 residents among cities included in the comparison.