By Jorge Casuso
February 4, 2025 -- During the last week of January, Santa Monica police arrested nearly a dozen repeat offenders during operations conducted by special teams.
Police also arrested a kidnapping suspect possibly involved in human trafficking and swept a large Downtown commercial building, arresting a dozen trespassers, according to the Police Department's "The Blue Notebook" blog.
In addition, two sex offenders were arrested for being out of compliance with their registrations, with one having violated his probation more than ten times, according to the blog.
The "notable incidents" highlighted in SMPD's weekly crime blog led to 47 arrests made between January 25 and 31, bringing the total number of arrests for the month to 202.
During the seven days, there were 2,133 calls for service, 19 percent of them involving the homeless.
The trespassing arrests took place on Tuesday, January 29, during an operation spearheaded by SMPD's Homeless Liaison Program (HLP) team at a large commercial building at 1632 5th Street near the Expo train station Downtown.
A total of 12 individuals were arrested, one for failure to register with law enforcement as a sex offender and 11 for trespassing violations.
Two had No Bail warrants, and one was in possession of drug paraphernalia.
"City staff arrived on scene immediately after the search was completed and secured the building," wrote Lt. Erika Aklufi, who maintains the blog.
"Significant damage was found throughout, including broken doors, windows, holes in the drywall, and biological hazards."
The operation was conducted with support from the Crime Impact Team (CIT), Community Engagement Team, Directed Action Response Team (DART), the Motor Unit and Jail staff.
During the same week, a suspect was arrested for kidnapping on the 200 block of Broadway after the victim, who appeared to be a minor, flagged down and told a City employee that "an adult was following her and was a pimp."
"While speaking with the employee, the suspect approached the victim and forcibly led her away," according to the blog. "Officers contacted the involved parties and determined the victim is an adult.
"The victim told officers, the suspect repeatedly assaulted her and forced her to have sex for money on Figueroa Street in Los Angeles."
Police arrested the suspect for kidnapping and contacted LAPD about a possible case of human trafficking.
In addition to the two incidents, operations by special units conducted near the Pier resulted in a number of stops and arrests that involved individuals on parole or with arrest warrants.
One individual, who was stopped for violating the terms of his parole, "is known for thefts committed in and around the hotels on Ocean Front Walk." His parole agent issued a hold ordering his detention.
Other stops and arrests involved an individual on felony parole for narcotics sales with a warrant out of LAPD, as well as two subjects with Santa Monica warrants.
Two incidents took place just south of the Pier. One subject had three outstanding SMPD warrants for narcotics violations and one for possession of stolen property, as well as a warrant for possession of methamphetamine out of LAPD.
The other was a pedestrian stop of a subject with a No Bail warrant for burglary out of Fresno County.
A crime suppression operation conducted by the Crime Impact Team focusing on Tongva Park, Reed Park, the 7-Eleven store on Wilshire, and the surrounding area resulted in two warrant arrests for narcotics violations during pedestrian stops.
