By Jorge Casuso

July 3, 2024 -- Did you know police officers transported 255 individuals to a hospital for mental health evaluations last year?

Or that you can find that fact on a new blog the Santa Monica Police Department began posting on the City's website Wednesday titled "Did You Know?"

"This is something we have been discussing for a while," said SMPD spokesperson Lt. Erika Aklufi. "Lately, we have read some online articles and social media posts that were either off the mark or just plain inaccurate.

"This seemed like the perfect opportunity to help correct the record and feed public curiosity about the work we do," Aklufi said.

It's not the first time SMPD launches an ongoing post that provides useful information, Aklifi said.

"We used to have a regular 'Ask an NRO' post covering different crime topics but had fallen out of the practice." (In case you didn't know, an NRO is a Neighborhood Resource Officer.)

The Department plans to keep the posts coming, although it hasn'y yet set a schedule for updates, Aklufi said.

"For the time being we invite the community to keep coming by and checking out the information. We will also send out alerts on social media when we post new information."

There has been increased interest in police work and different ways to communicate information, according to Aklufi.

"We want to make sure people are hearing from us what we are seeing and doing in the city," she said. "In order to keep it relevant, we invite question submissions and suggestions for additional topics."

Those can be shared through email at communityaffairs@santamonica.gov