Our latest Santa Monica Pulse poll found that residents had mixed feelings when it came to the city’s recent investment of state funds in a 3-year program that gives homeless individuals who have committed low-level crimes in the city a choice between going to jail or entering a into a “personalized 90-day care coordination plan.” Those who successfully complete the program will have their misdemeanor charges dropped. When asked if they believed this program would reduce or increase crime and disorder in Santa Monica, about 25 percent said it would reduce crime, and about the same amount said it would increase crime. About 48 percent said it would have no impact on the crime level.

We asked residents to weigh in o the federal government’s recent announcement of a criminal task force to investigate potential “fraud, waste, abuse and corruption” involving funding for homeless programs in Southern California. The Mayor of LA has said the task force will be a “complete distraction,” while the federal government points to the need for investigation — including an audit that found $2.3 billion in homeless funding sent to LA County between June 2020 and June 2024 could not be fully accounted for. When asked if they support the task force, almost 80 percent of respondents said yes. Only 11 percent said no, and nine percent weren’t sure.

After months of crime on Sant Monica’s beach, we also asked residents about the City Council’s plan to explore ways to make the beach safer. So far, it has stopped short of enforcing a curfew. When asked if they thought a nighttime curfew would make the beach safer, 63 percent said yes, 23 percent said no, and another 12 percent were unsure.