SANTA MONICA—On Saturday, February 10, the city of Santa Monica announced on its website that as a service to property owners and managers, the city of Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Police Department maintains a system for filing trespass arrest authorization letters (“trespass letters”).
According to a press release from the city’s website, trespass letters authorize SMPD officers to enforce trespassing laws without having the owner of the property or their agent present. Prior to January 1, 2024, owners of real property and their agents were required to submit the trespass letters every 30 days (occupied property) or six months (vacant property) through an online system.
At the start of 2024, California State Senate Bill 602 (Archuleta) changed the trespass letter requirements to increase the period for the trespass letter from 30 days to 1 year. The bill further requires that all trespass letters be notarized prior to submission. The form can be found at the following link or using the QR code below.
All property owners are encouraged to do the following:
1. Print out and complete the trespass letter form for each unique address for which you are submitting an authorization.
https://santamonica.gov/media/Police/Trespass%20Arrest%20Authorization %20Form%20020824.pdf
2. Sign the form in the presence of a notary.
3. Mail or personally deliver the original notarized form to the Santa Monica Police Department at 333 Olympic Drive (Special Operations Division) Santa Monica, CA 90401.
For faster processing, the form can be scanned and emailed to HLPTeam@santamonica.gov. The original must be delivered to the Santa Monica Police Department.
By Trevor