Monrovia police present six-year crime review; chief cites rise in proactive policing and changes under Proposition 36

Police Chief Harvey told the Monrovia City Council on March 4 that calls for service in Monrovia have remained largely steady over the past six years while proactive policing activity has increased, a trend he said is linked to better crime-prevention capacity and some new programs such as SGV Cares.

"Calls for service are just that. They are calls that come in from the community to a police department that are generated from outside," Chief Harvey said as he described how Monrovia categorizes incoming calls into nonemergency, walk-in and 911 calls and by priority levels.

Harvey said that when proactive policing is counted alongside calls for service the department’s total activity rose in 2024, but that removing proactive activity shows an overall downward trend in crime. He told the council that proactive activity includes directed patrols, specialty details and outreach teams and that the increase in proactive work is generally desirable because it means officers have time to look for and prevent crime.

The chief also described…