Video: West Seattle Blockwatch Captains Network field trip shows do’s, don’ts of crime-resistant home

| Crime | West Seattle news | West Seattle police

(Click image to go to YouTube video page, where you can watch the video)
If you want to keep a burglar from kicking your door in, what matters is “not the deadbolt, it’s the door frame.” That potentially surprising advice was part of a briefing on Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, presented Tuesday night by Southwest Precinct Community Police Team Officer Jonathan Kiehn for the West Seattle Blockwatch Captains Network.

Officer Kiehn had briefed the group on CPTED principles back in March, and recapped that briefing last night before attendees headed to the local home chosen for the on-scene review. Once there, we rolled video on his entire outdoor-and-indoor review, which you can watch above, unedited and nearly an hour long – looking at everything from landscaping to lighting to doors to the back yard to the alley, and yes, the door-frame issue.

(Even if you’re not a Block Watch Captain – yet! – follow the group on Facebook and the Web for invaluable crime-prevention advice and meeting announcements.)

Phillip May 25, 2011 (9:55 am)

Wow – this was really awesome and Officer Kiehn really knows what he’s talking about. I went and checked our deadbolt and now I’m going to go around and get all the serial numbers for all my goodies :)

WSB May 25, 2011 (10:21 am)

I should note, since we just received a phone call of concern, we recorded video of this with permission – we asked WSBWCN before the event if it would be OK, and they secured the permissions. Recording meetings in public venues do not require such permission but this of course is a private residence and we wouldn’t have recorded it if there had been an objection – TR