I appreciated Mr. Bretsky's response to my op-ed, anyone who steps out into the public eye deserves to have their side of the issue heard. The main thrust to my article was not about money, although admittedly my discovery came to light while tuning in on the budget process.
The reason my article resonated with the Santa Monica public was because it put into context what residents and visitors see and feel every day. All the puzzle pieces seem to fit, maybe not perfectly, but in a way that takes what is going on around them and gave it voice.
The issue I take with Mr. Bretsky saying Santa Monica spends around the same on policing as some of the other cities is that most of them don't have the mental health crisis, number of daily population or yearly visitor numbers that Santa Monica has. More issues need more officers that cost more money. One could argue that my analysis was not the "one all, be all" way of looking at things, but looking at police spending by number of residents is surely a far more flawed way to find any meaningful answers in a vibrant city like Santa Monica.
Mr. Bretsky ended by pointing out Beverly Hills is spending far more than Santa Monica on policing and posed the question, "What in the world is going on in Beverly Hills?"
I would guess in many similar ways to Santa Monica their local economy is tied to tourism, retail, restaurants and hotels. I'm assuming they value those visitors and the reputation as a safe place to visit, stay, shop and eat. I'm assuming they take some of the tax revenue and reinvest it in policing to maintain that reputation and tax base. They hope to continue the cycle of visitors and spending in their city.
But what does that get them? Well, looking at the publicly available 2022 FBI stats Santa Monica had 8.55 violent crimes per 1,000 residents and Beverly Hills had 4.95 violent crimes per 1,000 residents. Of course, it's not a perfect comparison but it is, in many ways, attempting to compare apples to apples- please remember lies, damn lies and statistics!
So, I guess the answer to the question is 614 or to be more fair, 42%.
The investment in policing Beverly Hills has made has gotten them 614 fewer actual violent crimes in 2022. When adjusted for the number of residents, I will do my best to make the comparison fair, that's 42% less violent crime in Beverly Hills as compared to Santa Monica.
Now they don't have an end of line bus and train terminus, a huge beach, or other characteristics that all play into that number.
But to the question, "what is going on?" Some may just call it good governance.
Cody Green, President of the Santa Monica Police Officers Association
