Plywood is the new glass

Vandalism and burglary: In the course of regular business this week, SMDP staff encountered seven businesses that had been vandalized recently. Damage included two burned-out ATMs at the Chase location in Downtown Santa Monica and multiple instances of broken glass doors on several businesses. According to the Santa Monica Police Department broken windows in isolation would be considered vandalism. Vandalism calls increased from 607 in 2018 to 757 in 2021. Calls declined slightly last year to 746 and in the first quarter of this year SMPD reported 175 instances compared to 182 in 2022. However, if the suspect enters the building after breaking the glass, the call becomes burglary, regardless of any actual theft. Burglary declined from 740 calls in 2021 to 669 calls in 2022. However, in the first quarter of this year, burglary (both residential and non residential) increased to 180 calls from the 163 in the same time last year.