City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: October 8, 2024
Agenda Item: 7.B
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: David White, City Manager, City Manager's Office
Oscar Santiago, Director, Finance Department
Subject: Budget Study Session on Enhancing Public Safety and Addressing Homelessness
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding of Categorical Exemption pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA); and
2. Provide direction on making investments to enhance public safety and address homelessness in connection with Measures K and PSK on the November 2024 ballot.
Summary
On July 9, 2024, Council directed staff to return to Council with a study session on the best ways to make strategic investments to enhance public safety and address our homelessness crisis. Staff was directed to take a broad, holistic approach to public safety and addressing homelessness. This was done in conjunction with placing a Parking Facility Tax measure (Measure K) accompanied by an advisory measure (Measure PSK) on the November 2024 ballot.
The decision to place the Parking Facility Tax Measure K on the November 2024 ballot was driven by the city’s fragile financial position, facing unprecedented liabilities, deferred infrastructure maintenance, slow growth of tax revenues, and an extremely competitive labor market. To address these realities, the Council adopted a FY 2024- 2025 budget that delayed several CIP projects and continued to withhold funding from 2 of 25
the Housing Trust Fund (attachment A). Meanwhile, Council was committed to responding to community demands that more be done in the areas of enhancing public safety and addressing homelessness and new funding was required to make any significant budget enhancements in these areas.
If approved by the voters, Measure K is estimated to raise an annual $6.7 million. This measure is accompanied by advisory Measure PSK that recommends the city commit half of the projected annual $6.7 million, or approximately $3.35 million to the priorities of public safety and addressing homelessness.
In response to that direction, the departments with lead responsibilities for public safety and addressing homelessness developed proposals, with a focus on programs and services that would be effective, make the most immediate impact in our community, and increase visibility into how the city is addressing these issues.
The city takes a 360° approach to the issues of safety and homelessness, with resources dedicated to prevention, emergency response, prosecution, and diversion.
And, what emerged from these proposals was the diversity of strategies we are deploying across our city, and the inter-dependencies across city departments required for the strategies to be successful. The budget requests also surfaced a number of areas where budget and staffing reductions made during COVID or the impacts of inflation, market-driven price increases, and legislative changes are challenging our ability to sustain existing programs and services.
To help guide the Council in determining the more impactful ways to invest half of the revenues from the tax initiative, this report summarizes the city’s overall financial health, recent initiatives and strategies in public safety and homelessness, and provides three funding scenarios that focus the resources to address different but equally important goals and strategies around public safety and homelessness:
• Increasing visibility of city resources in the community • Increasing capacity across the public safety system
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• Restoring staffing and budget or narrowing funding gaps in existing services.
None of the three scenarios are mutually exclusive, reflected by the fact that select budget enhancements appear in more than one scenario. Additionally, the scenarios do not represent the totality of resource needs in these areas, as the needs far outweigh available resources.
City’s Financial Status
The city remains in a precarious financial situation with unprecedented liabilities, a backlog of infrastructure maintenance and unfunded capital projects, and an extraordinarily competitive labor market combined with significantly reduced general fund reserve levels. The city has paid out over $230 million in settlements related to former employee Eric Uller and is now facing another 105 claims in the matter.
Likewise, the California Voter Rights Act or CVRA case is back in the trial courts for additional judicial review. Further putting strain on the city’s finances is the city’s contract with the County of Los Angeles for lifeguard services, which will be expiring in 2025; the county is seeking an additional $3 million a year to continue providing services to Santa Monica. There are also fiscal impacts to consider should Santa Monica be a host city for the LA28 Olympic Games. Lastly, the city will enter labor negotiations with all 11 bargaining units next spring.
In addition to these liabilities, city programs and services in several areas remain below what they were prior to the COVID-driven restructuring of city services made in 2020.
City staffing remains 176.9 positions below pre-COVID levels. The community continues to experience the impacts of the budget reductions in many ways including, but not limited to:
• Reduced youth programming
• Reduced library hours and programming
• The Camera Obscura and Miles Playhouse still shuttered 4 of 25
• Longer response times by our Public Works department to maintain parks, city buildings, and other spaces
• Elimination of CityTV programming
A list of key areas where city services remain below 2020 levels is included as attachment B.
Given this financial situation, the city must consider strategies to repay funds deferred from the enterprise funds and rebuild city reserves which today are at historically low levels, impacting the city’s credit ratings. Meanwhile, the city is seeking to restore city services, address deferred maintenance and identify funding for $450 million in unfunded capital projects. A summary of the primary areas competing for limited city resources are below.
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Major Financial Considerations for the City
Liabilities • Uller Settlement Claims
• CVRA Legal Costs
• LA28 Olympics
• Lifeguard Services
Restoring Services • Restoring City Services
• Deferred Infrastructure Maintenance
• Restoring Capital Improvement Program
Financial Stewardship • Rebuild Reserves
• Repay Enterprise Funds
• Labor Negotiations in Competitive Labor Market
Future Considerations • Unfunded CIP Projects
• Equity Roadmap and Reparations
• Homeless Strategic Plan
• Police and Fire Departments Strategic Plans
• Behavioral Health Study
• Aging and Disability Plan
• Renter Protections Study
• Ambulance Operator Program
• Airport Park
• PC 741 Race Blind Charging for Criminal Prosecution
• Workplace Security
Enhancing Public Safety and Addressing Homelessness
Santa Monica has a broad cross section of staff devoted to the community’s public safety and addressing our homelessness emergency. While Police and Fire departments and the Office of Emergency Management play key roles in the security of our community and the response to safety incidents, the Housing and Human Services Department and the City Attorney’s Office also play critical roles in the engagement, prevention, prosecution and diversion of those in our public safety system.
In response to community needs and informed by best practices, the city has implemented a wide variety of programs within these departments to address public safety and homelessness. Below is a diagram identifying some of those programs. 6 of 25
Engagement &
Prevention
Security & Emergency
Response
Prosecution &
Diversion
• Human Services
Grants Program
• City Youth Engagement
- Police Activities
League, CREST (Child
Care, Recreation,
Enrichment, Sports
Together), Virginia
Avenue Park, LEAD
(Leadership,
Engagement,
Achievement,
Discovery)
• Community Resource
Officers
• Park Ambassadors
• C3 (City + County +
Community) and
Homeless
Multidisciplinary Street
Team (HMST)
Outreach
• Homeless Liaison
Program (HLP) Teams
• Project Homecoming
• Community Emergency
Response Teams
(CERT)
• Housing vouchers
• Preserving Our
Diversity (POD)
program
• Police Officers
• Fire Response
• Drone Program
• 911/988 Dispatch
• Directed Action
Response Team
(DART)
• Closed Caption TV
(CCTV) / Proactive
Security Monitoring
• Public Safety Officers
• Therapeutic Transport
Team
• Ambulance Program
• Code Enforcement
• Santa Monica
Analytical Real-time
(SMART) Center
• Criminal Filing /
Prosecution
• Shelter, Treatment and
Empowerment Program
(STEP) Court
• Victim Advocacy
• Other Diversion
Programs
In addition to these departments, nearly every other city department plays an active role in our community’s safety:
• Community Development – Code Enforcement addresses issues on private spaces and Economic Development helps promote business activity 7 of 25
• Department of Transportation – security on Big Blue Bus and bus stops • Finance – management of public safety finances and grants • Human Resources – recruitment of public safety personnel and the city’s workplace safety plan
• Information Services – management and support of the public safety technology and cyber security
• Library – Library safety officers and proactive security monitoring • Public Works – The city Homeless Support Team (HoST) and keeping city public spaces and parks clean and city vehicles and facilities operable • Recreation and Arts – activates city parks and working to reopen shuttered cultural facilities
It is in this spirit that Council asked staff to take a broad view of public safety and return to Council with recommendations on the best ways to improve public safety and address the homelessness emergency in Santa Monica.
Enhancing Public Safety
Santa Monica has a long history of taking a 360° view of public safety that includes engagement and prevention, emergency response, adjudication, and diversion and rehabilitation. The city operates youth programs, after school programs, and library programs all designed to engage youth and residents and help them feel connected and part of the community. Police and Fire responders, deployed by the city’s dispatch center, are the first to the scene of an incident and deploy innovative best practices and technologies to improve community safety. If arrests occur, our City Attorney’s Office and others have implemented diversion opportunities to help keep people out of the criminal justice system, where they are more likely to become repeat offenders. Finally, our Human Services teams and community partners are working with people to address mental health, substance use disorders, employment and economic stability, as well as provide supports for individuals who are vulnerable and at risk of becoming homeless.
The Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD) 2023 Annual Report provides a summary 8 of 25
of the crime statistics and the impact of the different teams within the department (attachment C).
To expand on the city’s efforts to better address public safety, the city has:
• Added 11 new police officer positions
• Deployed the SMPD command post in special deployments in downtown addressing homelessness/outreach, and the prevention of shoplifting. • SMPD reinitiated the Crime Impact Team (CIT) which is a team of officers focused on quality-of-life issues throughout the city.
• SMPD officers increased their visibility at local area parks with multiple visits per day in the city’s most active public parks.
• SMPD deployed 33 automated license plate reader cameras (ALPR) with plans to add an additional 46 more cameras throughout the city by the end of the year. • Implemented security services at the Pier and expanded security services in downtown parking structures.
• Initiated the Directed Action Response Team (DART) in 2021 to support Pier safety and vendor compliance. The DART now works proactively on the beach and throughout downtown addressing matters of public safety and homelessness.
• Applied for and received $6.1 million in grant funds for SMPD to implement a Santa Monica Analytical Real-Time (SMART) crime center to support enforcement and help prevent retail theft.
• Applied for and received a grant to offer STEP (Shelter, Treatment, and Empowerment Program) Court as a diversion program that incentivizes treatment and services in lieu of incarceration.
• Implemented new Public Safety Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) and Records Management Systems.
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• Piloted and installed proactive security monitoring at the Main Library, Camera Obscura and Miles Playhouse.
• Developed strategic plans in the Fire and Police departments. • Provided for cleaner spaces through fountain maintenance, tree pruning and establishing a specialized Homeless Support Team (HoST) to address public space maintenance.
Addressing Homelessness
Santa Monica has a long-standing comprehensive, coordinated, and interdisciplinary approach to addressing homelessness. These efforts are advanced by non-profit partners; Federal, State, and County governments; and city departments working together to address and prevent homelessness and its impact on the broader community who live, play, and/or work in Santa Monica. The city’s interdepartmental teams use Santa Monica’s four pillar approach adopted by the City Council in March 2019 to guide their work. These four pillars are:
• Pillar 1: Preventing Homelessness
• Pillar 2: Behavioral Health
• Pillar 3: Safe Public Spaces
• Pillar 4: Regional Capacity
More on the city’s work to address homelessness and the four pillar approach can be found in the city’s annual update on homelessness presented to Council on May 14, 2024 (attachment D)
To advance the city’s efforts, the city has taken specific measures to broaden its work to address homelessness, including:
• Creating the Housing and Human Services Department to lead the efforts on expanding affordable housing and addressing and preventing homelessness. • Adopting a Declaration of Emergency on Homelessness to more efficiently align resources and advance initiatives.
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• In early 2024, the city entered into a service contract with the Salvation Army, allowing the Salvation Army to engage with the unhoused alongside the SMPD Homeless Liaison Program (HLP) Team.
• The SMPD HLP team joined social service provider teams to work special outreach deployments in high utilizer areas such as E/W Santa Monica and Wilshire Blvd. Additionally, the combined HLP/outreach teams worked specific details on Ocean Ave, downtown, Palisades, Tongva and Reed Park. • With the launch of an additional C3 outreach team the city continues to invest in Multi-Disciplinary Outreach teams staffed by licensed medical and behavioral health clinicians who can deliver immediate and intensive services for people experiencing homelessness and work with them on moving indoors. The original two C3 Teams cover the beach and downtown area, and the additional team covers the balance of the city. These teams work collaboratively with the HLP Team to support addressing homelessness.
• Launching the Therapeutic Transport Team in partnership with the County Department of Mental Health.
• Selection and approval of developers for two city-owned sites designated for affordable housing.
• Upgrade SAMOSHEL shelter program to accommodate 24/7 intakes by first responders which has led to SAMOSHEL being almost fully occupied Establishing the Public Works Homeless Support Team (HoST) to make public spaces accessible for all.
• Opening a Pathway Home location in Santa Monica in partnership with the County of Los Angeles. The Pathway Home program provides shelter, case management, and housing navigation to assist individuals experiencing homelessness transition to permanent housing.
• Opening The Laurel, a 57-unit permanent supportive housing community which is fully leased
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• Advocating to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority to address end of line issues and safety at the Santa Monica stations which has resulted in the Tap to Exit program being implemented in Santa Monica and outreach workers being deployed to the downtown Santa Monica station at the end of the night two to three days per week.
• Initiating creation of a Homeless Strategic Plan and a Behavioral Health Strategy to set clear policy direction, promote alignment across city stakeholders, and lay out a coordinated vision for the expansion of the homelessness response system, including measurable outcomes, goals, and tangible strategies which focus interdepartmental efforts where they can make the biggest impact. With these plans, the city seeks to increase continuity in an inherently shifting policy environment, improve focus on measurable objectives, and increase internal alignment and regional coordination.
Constraints on City Public Safety Teams
In the face of the budget constraints mentioned above, unfunded state mandates, and obligations from grants, the city’s public safety teams have continued to deliver complex and nuanced strategies to address public expectations on safety and addressing homelessness. Each department highlighted significant constraints in meeting the community’s expectations around enhancing public safety and addressing homelessness, which were considered in evaluating and presenting their proposals. • City Attorney’s Office, Criminal Division – While the City Attorney’s Office is down five FTE department-wide, the Criminal Division remains down two positions since prior to COVID. However, the number of cases referred from law enforcement has risen by 70% in the last two years. On top of this, the state has recently implemented an unfunded mandate that requires all cases be reviewed “blind” to ensure racial or other bias does not play a role in charging decisions.
This means that the 4,200 police reports the unit is expected to receive this year must be reviewed twice to comply with the law. Finally, the Criminal division has taken on responsibility for significant grants to create and fund programs such as 12 of 25
STEP Court, increasing the administrative demands on the team. Currently, one of the attorneys is dedicated full time to administering grants and unable to take on individual cases. Adding one Sr. Legal Analyst to the team will allow for a reallocation of duties so that the Analyst can cover the grants and other administrative functions and allow the attorney currently doing those functions to resume handling of caseload.
• City Manager’s Office, Office of Emergency Management – The 911 Public Safety Dispatch team remains down one position since 2020. The team has also been challenged by high turnover due to the demands of the job and a competitive labor market. Recently, the city’s internal auditor, Moss Adams, completed a review of the program and determined that additional staffing was needed to maintain best practices and dispatch answer times.
The restoration of one lead dispatch position is an incremental first step in supporting this team given the city’s resources.
• Fire Department – The Fire Department is a critical partner in public safety and addressing homelessness as the city’s first responder to all health emergencies, which often involve the unhoused and other vulnerable populations. During 2020, the Department operated the Community Response Unit (CRU) to help better address these issues but discontinued the program as the city established an Emergency Medical Services Division.
The Fire Department proposes implementing the Advanced Provider Unit as a replacement for the CRU to provide specialized response by creating two teams that include a specially trained nurse and a firefighter. Similar programs have been effective in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles and would complement the city’s existing programs, allowing for specialized services every day of the week in coordination with the Therapeutic Transport Team and other responders. 13 of 25
• Housing and Human Services Department – The Housing and Human Services staff operate many of the programs and manage the Human Services Grant Program (HSGP), which provides grant funding to city non-profit partners. They do so with fewer positions and resources than they had in 2020, yet, the department has been able to launch new programs, such as the partnership with the County Department of Mental Health for the Therapeutic Transport Team and expand existing programs, such as the Preserving Our Diversity (POD) program supporting vulnerable seniors in the city, as well as the expansion of the C3 outreach team to cover the balance of the city. The Therapeutic Transport Team co-dispatches with Fire or Police to respond to mental health emergencies in Santa Monica, often connecting those experiencing homelessness with mental health treatment and resources. Nevertheless, the ability to respond to mental health concerns, and quality of life issues continues to impact the quality of life for all community members and business owners.
As such, the department seeks to address community member and business owner concerns by creating a Downtown Outreach Team that would pair code enforcement officers with an additional Outreach Team to respond to trespassing and the city’s sit/lie doorway ordinance in the city’s downtown core with an initial focus on the Promenade, that would aim to leverage support from DTSM contracted security guards and SMPD as needed. Based on trespass calls for service in Downtown in July, 86 were related to people experiencing homelessness. The Downtown Outreach Team would seek to significantly reduce this monthly number as well as allow SMPD to address higher level needs. This program would track citations, contacts, services provided, and interim/permanent housing placements for individuals engaged to determine long-term impacts and allow for program refinement as-needed.
The pilot would include two teams operating, each comprised of two Outreach Workers and a Code Enforcement Officer, and would aim to leverage support from DTSM contracted security guards and SMPD as needed. The team would be deployed in the early morning hours and continue into the early afternoon, 14 of 25
providing much needed support to downtown business owners and their employees by proactively engaging individuals in doorways and entrances, thereby relieving businesses of the burden of engaging individuals directly or contacting SMPD. Implementation will be contingent on identifying an outreach provider, hiring additional Code Enforcement Officers, and coordinating with SMPD and DTSM to establish an ideal schedule and strategy for engagement.
Alternatively, the department has proposed providing ongoing funding for the Therapeutic Transport Team, which has proven effective but is currently only funded with one-time resources from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
Behavioral health is one of the leading concerns as it relates to public safety and addressing homelessness, and many individuals suffer from complex trauma associated with prolonged homelessness. Since the launch of the program in January, data continues to illustrate a steady increase in utilization of the program. As the County works to increase hiring for this program, and as HHS works with SMPD and DMH, to expand the types of calls the team responds to, the benefit of having this mental health resource in our community will continue to expand. The goal of this program is to provide mental health support as a codispatch for 9-1-1 calls or where an on-scene fire or police unit requests therapeutic assistance thereby freeing SMPD and SMFD resources for other emergency calls. For program operations to continue, the program must secure ongoing funding. There is currently one team operating comprised of three staff - (1 peer support; 1 clinician, and 1 driver). The desired outcome is to increase the staffing to provide coverage for the city 7 days a week. • Police Department – Supporting the city’s police has been a primary area of focus with more police officer positions funded now than at any time in the city’s history. However, the department has had to reallocate positions to emerging issues such as street patrol and vending, leaving several key functions unstaffed.
Additionally, the department has not seen a restoration in its non-sworn personnel, reducing the department’s ability to enforce traffic violations or provide crossing guard services. Furthermore, effective policing requires the use of 15 of 25
public safety technologies, such as closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, real-time call data, and other solutions to help officers effectively secure the city and respond to emergencies. While the department received a $6.1 million grant for its Santa Monica Analytical Real-Time (SMART) Center, several of these technologies have seen a marked increase in costs in recent years.
The Police Department has proposed several measures to help restore services and respond to community concerns on safety, including restoring the Special Investigations Unit to investigate drug crimes and other more time intensive investigations and expanding the drone program to operate seven days a week.
Alternatively, the department has analyzed the funding required to shore up existing programs and staff by closing the funding gap for public safety technology, including providing ongoing funding for the city’s proactive security monitoring program, and restoring funding for police training.
In addition to the specific challenges listed by the departments above, other city departments are similarly constrained in supporting these teams. Public Works teams have extended maintenance times for city vehicles due to reduced staffing. Information Services maintains the robust and rapidly expanding portfolio of public safety technologies used by the city without added resources.
Human resources continues to prioritize recruitment of police positions over those in other departments to fill vacancies as rapidly as possible. Staff attempted to mitigate the impacts on these departments as it considered the funding scenarios presented below.
Three Funding Scenarios
Given Council’s direction to take a comprehensive view of Public Safety and Addressing Homelessness framed by the Council’s priorities of:
• Clean and Safe: committed to maintaining and enhancing an atmosphere marked by clean and safe public spaces and neighborhoods, including parks for recreation and leisure activities.
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• Addressing Homelessness: prevent housed Santa Monicans from becoming homeless and increase the supply of affordable housing, address the behavioral health needs of vulnerable individuals and advocate for regional capacity to address homelessness.
The Police, Fire and Housing and Human Services departments along with the City Attorney’s Office and the Office of Emergency Management developed proposals that can be quickly deployed and have the most immediate impact and benefit for our community.
The needs identified by the departments far exceeded the anticipated advisory measure annual allocation amount of Parking Facility Tax – about $3.35 million. Therefore, staff developed three scenarios with distinct areas of focus or goals to provide Council with three different approaches to funding city services in these areas. These scenarios are designed as tools to guide Council’s discussion and provide direction to staff. Each scenario is outlined below along with its pros and cons.
A. Visibility - Increasing Public Facing Services and Programs – Adds 10.0 FTE with Total Cost of Proposal at $3.53 million Year 1 / $3.26 million ongoing
A key component of enhancing public safety and addressing homelessness is street or public facing services that create a more visible presence in our community. This scenario focuses resources on efforts that would be visible within the community, including:
• Special Investigations Unit (add 2.0 FTE) – Add one sergeant and one officer to re-establish a Special Investigations Unit (SIU) that would provide tactical surveillance and assist in identifying and apprehending dangerous individuals. The department may also need to divert officers from other duties to fully staff this unit.
• Drone Program Expansion (Add 2.0 FTE) – Add a second Drone as First Responder (DFR) team with two police officers to enhance the 17 of 25
Police Department’s ability to respond to incidents rapidly and provide critical, time-sensitive information to first responders. This proposal will enable the program to operate 7 days per week.
• Security Monitoring Services – Provide ongoing funding for proactive security services and cameras at the Main Library, Miles Playhouse and Camera Obscura to deter vandalism at these locations and provide police department with additional camera footage for investigations.
• Advanced Provider Unit (Add 4.0 FTE) – Establish an Advanced Provider Unit (APU) with the addition of two firefighters and two registered nurses trained in mental health emergencies, crisis communications, de-escalation, and substance use disorders to better respond to calls for service for homeless and other vulnerable populations.
• Downtown Outreach Team (Add 2.0 FTE) – Establish a new multidisciplinary team (MDT) by adding two Code Enforcement Officers and an additional MDT Outreach Team to enforce trespassing and no sit/lie doorway ordinances specifically in the city’s downtown core, with an initial focus on the Third Street Promenade, and connect people to services and programs.
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Summary of Visibility Scenario Enhancements
(Represents a full year of estimated costs in millions) FTE Year 1 Ongoing
Special Investigations Unit 2.0 FTE $0.82 M $0.62 M
Drone Program Expansion 2.0 FTE $0.51 M $0.49 M
Security Monitor. Serv. at Library & Parks - $0.10 M $0.11 M Advanced Provider Unit 4.0 FTE $1.43 M $1.35 M
Downtown Outreach Team 2.0 FTE $0.67 M $0.69 M
Total 10.0 FTE $3.53 M $3.26 M
Pros Cons
• Adds more public facing staffing
and services
• Expands Drone program from four
to seven days a week
• Restores Special Investigations
Unit to handle systemic drug and
criminal investigations
• Increases engagements with
homeless and vulnerable
populations to connect to services
and housing, with APU services
seven days a week
• Leaves funding gaps for existing
tools and technologies in place
• Creates possibility that cases will
have to be prioritized with some
not being handled due to CAO
staff limitations
• Ongoing funding for the
Therapeutic Transport Team
must still be identified
• For Police Department, ability to
deploy without having to make
tradeoffs
B. Adding Capacity Systemwide – Adds 11.0 FTE with Total Cost of Proposal at $3.49 million Year 1 / $3.33 million ongoing As noted above, the city’s teams dedicated to public safety and addressing homelessness span several departments, all of which play essential roles in the prevention of crime, reducing the length of an individual experiences homelessness and preventing individuals from becoming homeless, responding to safety incidents, and working with individuals to prosecute them or diverting them into programs and services designed to help with 19 of 25
rehabilitation. The entire system is strained and this scenario is designed to add capacity across all city partners in these areas, including:
• Special Investigations Unit (add 1.0 FTE) – Add one sergeant to reestablish a Special Investigations Unit (SIU) that would provide tactical surveillance and assist in identifying and apprehending dangerous individuals. This would be a smaller unit than in the visibility scenario or would require resources be reallocated from other duties to support this unit.
• Drone Program Expansion (Add 2.0 FTE) – Add a second Drone as First Responder (DFR) team with two police officers to enhance the Police Department’s ability to respond to incidents rapidly and provide critical, time-sensitive information to first responders. This proposal will enable the program to operate 7 days per week.
• Security Monitoring Services – Provide ongoing funding for proactive security services and cameras at the Main Library, Miles Playhouse and Camera Obscura to deter vandalism at these locations and provide police department with additional camera footage for investigations.
• Advanced Provider Unit (Add 4.0 FTE) – Establish an Advanced Provider Unit (APU) with the addition of two firefighters and two registered nurses trained in mental health emergencies, crisis communications, de-escalation, and substance use disorders to better respond to calls for service for homeless and other vulnerable populations
• Downtown Outreach Team (Add 2.0 FTE) – Establish a new team by adding two Code Enforcement Officers and an additional Outreach Team to enforce trespassing laws and connect people to services along in the city’s downtown core with an initial focus on the Third Street Promenade.
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• Criminal Prosecution Unit (Add 1.0 FTE) – This proposal would add one Sr. Legal Analyst to the Criminal Prosecution Unit to support grant administration for programs like STEP Court, restore victim advocacy services, and seek new grant opportunities. This would free up one attorney on the team to focus on criminal prosecution instead of grant management.
• 911 Lead Dispatcher (Add 1.0 FTE) – Add one Public Safety Lead Dispatcher to the city’s 911 Public Safety Communications team to ensure prompt and effective response to emergency calls and reduce workload strain on the 911 team.
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Summary of Adding Capacity Systemwide Scenario Enhancements (Represents a full year of estimated costs in millions) FTE Year 1 Ongoing
Special Investigations Unit 1.0 FTE $0.45 M $0.35 M
Drone Program Expansion 2.0 FTE $0.51 M $0.49 M
Security Monitor. Serv. at Library & Parks - $0.10 M $0.11 M Advanced Provider Unit 4.0 FTE $1.43 M $1.35 M
Downtown Outreach Team 2.0 FTE $0.67 M $0.69 M
Criminal Prosecution Unit 1.0 FTE $0.19 M $0.20 M
911 Lead Dispatcher 1.0 FTE $0.14 M $0.14 M
Total 11.0 FTE $3.49 M $3.33 M
Pros Cons
• Adds more public facing staffing
and services
• Expands drone program from four
to seven days a week
• Restores a smaller Special
Investigations Unit to handle
systemic drug and criminal
investigations
• Increases engagements with
homeless and vulnerable
populations to connect to services
and housing, with APU services
seven days a week
• Adds capacity in the Criminal
Prosecution Unit and on 911 Public
Safety Dispatch teams
• Leaves funding gaps for existing
tools and technologies in place
• Ongoing funding for the
Therapeutic Transport Team
must still be identified
• For Police Department, ability to
deploy without having to make
tradeoffs
C. Rightsizing Operations (including Restorations) – Adds 6.0 FTE with Total Cost of Proposal at $3.27 million Year 1 / $3.27 million ongoing Following budget shortfalls that remain since 2020 along with escalating costs for equipment and services in the marketplace, departments are facing 22 of 25
budget shortfalls to maintain essential equipment or provide critical training.
This scenario works to close the funding gaps in many areas:
• Police Technology – Provide funding to cover existing technologies within the Police department, including replacing tasers, body worn cameras, and vehicle technologies that have all seen a sizable increase in costs similar to those experienced across the city. • Police Training – Increase funding in the Police department budget for officer training (e.g., use of force, de-escalation tactics) to ensure Santa Monica police are trained in best practices and emerging strategies to ensure a safe community.
• Security Monitoring Services – Provide ongoing funding for proactive security services and cameras at the Main Library, Miles Playhouse and Camera Obscura to deter vandalism at these locations and provide police department with additional camera footage for investigations.
• Advanced Provider Unit (Add 4.0 FTE) – Establish an Advanced Provider Unit (APU) with the addition of two firefighters and two registered nurses trained in mental health emergencies, crisis communications, de-escalation, and substance use disorders to better respond to calls for service for homeless and other vulnerable populations
• Therapeutic Transport Team – Provide ongoing funding for the program, which is a pilot with the County of Los Angeles Department of Mental Health (DMH) and is a specialized team that deploys with first responder calls for service related to mental health crises in the city to assist SMPD and SMFD with 911 and non-emergency calls for service that involve housed or unhoused people experiencing a mental health emergency. The County staff provide robust client evaluation, refer clients to additional mental health services, transport clients to psychiatric care if needed, and provide follow-up services. 23 of 25
Ongoing funding would ensure this program continues and would allow the city to work with DMH to increase coverage for the city. • Criminal Prosecution Unit (Add 1.0 FTE) – This proposal would add one Sr. Legal Analyst to the Criminal Prosecution Unit to support grant administration for programs like STEP Court, restore victim advocacy services, and seek new grant opportunities. This would free up one attorney on the team to focus on reducing the backlog of criminal cases in the City Attorney’s Office.
• 911 Lead Dispatcher (Add 1.0 FTE) – Add one Public Safety Lead Dispatcher to the city’s 911 Public Safety Communications team to ensure prompt and effective response to emergency calls and reduce workload strain on the 911 team.
Summary of Rightsizing Operations Scenario Enhancements (Represents a full year of estimated costs in millions) FTE Year 1 Ongoing
Police Technology - $0.74 M $0.77 M
Police Training - $0.20 M $0.21 M
Security Monitor. Serv. at Library & Parks - $0.10 M $0.11 M Advanced Provider Unit (APU) 4.0 FTE $1.43 M $1.35 M
Therapeutic Transport Team - $0.47 M $0.49 M
Criminal Prosecution Unit 1.0 FTE $0.19 M $0.20 M
911 Lead Dispatcher 1.0 FTE $0.14 M $0.14 M
Total 6.0 FTE $3.27 M $3.27 M
Pros Cons
• Ensures ongoing funding for
technology and training to support
existing staff
• Guarantees ongoing funding for the
• Provides the least net new public
facing staffing
• Except the APU, adds no new
services
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Therapeutic Transport Team
• Increases treatment services for the
homeless and vulnerable
populations to connect to services
and housing with 7-day a week
APU services
• Adds capacity in the Criminal
Prosecution Unit and on 911 Public
Safety Dispatch teams
CEQA Analysis
The city’s Public Safety System enhancement review is exempt from CEQA pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines. This study session is covered by the common sense exemption which states that CEQA does not apply, “where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment.” This report provides a programmatic overview of the city’s Public Safety system. The implementation of programs would be subject to future CEQA review as applicable. Therefore, it can be seen with certainty that actions would not result in adverse physical impacts on the environment, and as such, is exempt from CEQA.
Financial Impacts
There is no immediate financial impact or budget action necessary as a result of the recommended action. Any budget changes will be incorporated into the mid-year budget should the tax measure pass.
Prepared By: Christopher Smith, Deputy City Manager
Approved Forwarded to Council
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Attachments:
A. June 28, 2024 Adoption of Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Operating Budget and FY 2024-2026 Capital Improvement Program Plan
B. 2020 to 2024 Service Impacts
C. 2023 Annual Crime Statistics
D. May 14, 2024 Annual Interdepartmental Update on Homelessness E. Santa Monica Joint Dispatch Study Report
F. Written Comments
G. PowerPoint Presentation