SANTA MONICA—On February 7, the Santa Monica Coalition pled with city officials to do something about the increase in crime after homeowner and Coalition member, John Alle, shuddered the doors of his business. He put up a sign declaring that “Santa Monica Is Not Safe. Crime…Depravity…Outdoor mental Asylum.”

The sign came down temporarily for the Super Bowl because the store was rented out to sell memorabilia. Once the temporary tenants left, the signage went back up.

Alle indicated his reason for closing his business on January 9, noting the area was no longer a safe environment for his employees to work. Alle relayed that his employees were accosted, robbed, and pushed. City officials contend that none of these alleged crimes were on record.

Alle reported, “Things are more out of hand here than anywhere in LA County.”

According to the bestplaces.com, a comparison between crime in Los Angeles and Santa Monica puts the latter at a close second.

The 2023 crime rates show Los Angeles at 29.1 percent and Santa Monica at 21.7 percent for violent crimes. The percentage for the United States is currently sitting at 22.7 percent.

For property crimes, Los Angeles is at 35.1 percent. Santa Monica is at 56.9 percent, with the U.S. property crimes at 35.4 percent.

The Santa Monica Coalition is a group consists of approximately 400 individuals attempting to make a positive change in the city and consists of Santa Monica homeowners, renters, business owners, un-housed and locals. It was created to address the local humanitarian crisis, the rise in crime and the lack of responsiveness from Santa Monica to address public safety concerns that are impacting the quality of life of residents, businesses, and tourists in Santa Monica.

The Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce and the Santa Monica Democratic Party do not care for the banner Alle put up by responding: 

“Demonizing those who suffer from homelessness, addiction, or mental illness does nothing to get help and only stigmatizes and further dehumanizes them.”

“We are not dehumanizing the homeless. They’re the most vulnerable because they’re the ones who need the most support,” Alle replied.

During a February 7, State of the City speech by City Manager, David White, he addressed the issue of homelessness by stating:

“We must do more and we are at a critical moment with great promise to see positive change across every level of government.”

White listed President Joe Biden’s commitment to decrease homelessness by 25 percent and cited Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declaring a state of emergency for the city of Los Angeles “signaling her commitment to improve conditions expeditiously.”

He noted the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors’ unanimous support of Mayor Bass’s declaration.