Santa Monica : Smoking Ban Considered

Under a proposed smoking rule, suspects and informants will be able to light up in police interrogation rooms, but Santa Monica city employees and the general public will have to take their cigarettes off city property if they want to smoke.

The council this week directed City Atty. Robert M. Myers to draft an ordinance that will prohibit smoking in all city buildings, with the exception of the Police Department’s interrogation rooms.

The council direction was designed to allow police leeway in conducting interviews with suspects and informants who often light up during interrogations, police say.

City staff had asked for other exceptions, including a few lunch rooms and the city yard, where mechanics often smoke, said City Manager John Jalili. But at the request of Councilman Ken Genser, the council included those areas in the ban.

The ban stems from a council vote in May to prohibit smoking in City Hall. At the time, the council directed city staff to study what other city buildings could be included in the ban. The vote Tuesday night was 6 to 1, with Councilman Robert T. Holbrook voting no.