Comments on: West Seattle Crime Watch: Gunfire hits house twice in one week

By: Danny

Danny — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 20:47:45 +0000

Which direction of the intersection does the house that got shot at stand? NW, NE, SW, or SE?

By: Marivel

Marivel — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 04:39:01 +0000

Well for everybody who wants to know we (the teenagers that live in this house) were actually bowling that night. They close the bowling alley at 2 a.m. And we choose to go out on the weekends because we work and go to school during the week and so we don’t upset our neighbors by staying up or making noise at our place. And for the people that say we have something to do with gangs I have one question for you… Why hasn’t anything happened to the other guys and why are we getting the cops involved.

By: Clif smith

Clif smith — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 06:32:30 +0000

E, Paint over graffiti, I am not sure if it is legal or not,but I know if a cop drove by and saw someone painting OVER a tag (especially one gang related) they wouldn’t care. You can’t paint a fire hydrant shut, firefighters can crank those things off like nothing with a wrench, a couple blasts from a can of spray paint or some house paint wont get in their way of getting a hose hooked to it if they need to put out a fire.
You can also order graffiti removal wipes from Worlds Best Graffiti Removal. I used to have a tag removal business and out of all the products, sprays, chemicals, and paint I used, those worked the best. They also have paint on chemicals that will only remove the spray paint and not the paint on the hydrant itself.
Also, during all my time removing graffiti, I was never contacted by any law enforcement. A few tenants of buildings that didn’t know I would be there, some on lookers in Downtown, but cops just drove past. So I doubt there would be any issues with police, even if there was, if you just explain the situation to them, they most likely would not have any problem with it. It saves them paying someone like me to do it for them. Also the faster a tag is removed the less likely they will return. Taggers (gangs especially) want 2 things either notoriety (non gang taggers mostly, who want to see how long their “work” stays “up” on your house), Gangs use it more to stake their claim to that neighborhood, and intimidate enemies , gang tags are fast and simple, numbers, basic symbols, and a few letters. Taggers who tag as art, put lots of time and effort into their work.If you paint over the gang tag, they will tag somewhere where they can advertise longer. If you paint over the “masterpiece” someone just painted, they wont want to hit you again because they weren’t up long enough to make it worth it to them, no other taggers will see it. 98% of the time, if you paint over it within 24 hours it wont come back, and that statistic is proven for gangs and taggers. If it comes back again, paint over it within 24 hours, and it wont come back. Try to add an extra light to the area that got tagged. Taggers like dark, and criminals in general don’t like being seen, so the more light the better. Hope that helps answer some questions. Also to see what gang tags look like check out http://www.nwgangs.com

By: pjmanley

pjmanley — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 18:24:06 +0000

@E: Don’t wait, grab your Krylon & paint over it. It’s a public safety issue.

By: pjmanley

pjmanley — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 18:22:05 +0000

Paint over graffiti today! It’s nothing more than wolf piss. If you don’t fix it quick, more wolves will be on the way.
Then go about saving society with programs or electing the right people, supporting small biz, and on and on.
Some a$$hole marks a house with graffiti, then another a$$hole shoots it up. Speculate & argue why? Or grab your paint buckets and do something about it, now, before their paint is even dry! Take back your neighborhood before the thugs own it! Do not wait!

By: westseattledood

westseattledood — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 07:48:57 +0000

If this block and the surrounding blocks do not have some kind of block watch, this is a good time to reactivate old block watches and start new ones.

Contact:

1) SW Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator Mark Solomon
2) WS Blockwatch Captains Network.
3) Jon Keihn – SW Precinct Community Officer

And your neighbors. Organize your building, your floor, your block.

Keep an eye on each other. Work with Property Managers!

And for goodness sakes, keep after the graffiti and tags – regardless of whether they are gang signs or not – all tags disrespect property and the neighbors who live there. The community should *never* just accept them. Keep primer around. I did notice today that a number of the tags on Delridge have been removed. But, there are still too many around. I understand that it might be hard to keep after, but really self-respecting neighborhoods will not stand for that kind of visible trashing of property.

WSB has provided info on the upcoming meeting about Graffiti – head on over and ask your questions and then share that info with everybody on a newly formed blockwatch.

Seriously. Start watching out for each other with Block Watches.

And, call 911 when you hear or see anything.

Do NOT call the non-emergency number people!

The right thing to do is to call 911 even if you aren’t sure what you heard or what you have seen – call 911. It is ok to call SPD. They will check on it, but people have to call 911 immediately if you can.

By: neighbor

neighbor — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 06:44:14 +0000

Exactly my point cj reserve judgement until you know for sure why this happened

By: E

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 06:13:28 +0000

Are we allowed to paint over graffiti on fire hydrants? I reported one near my house quite a while ago and have gotten no response from the city. But I’m afraid of somehow painting shut the hydrant or breaking the law if I cover the marks myself.

By: CJ

CJ — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 04:53:04 +0000

It brings comfort to blame the victim, feel that it couldn’t happen to you because you make good decisions. Maybe they are affiliated with a gang, maybe not. My house was shot at a few years ago, or someone shot their gun off outside my home as they drove by and the bullets happened to hit my home and garden. Maybe they were shooting at a raccoon.. I have no idea. I live in N.Admiral and have no gang affiliation.

By: neighbor

neighbor — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 04:28:39 +0000

Just saying dont make assumptions unless you have all the facts. This is very scary for me since i live close to this house.

By: WSB

WSB — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 04:23:44 +0000

Yes, somebody flagged us that two TV news vans were in the area earlier. Haven’t seen either of their stories yet – they all pick up reports from SPD Blotter as well.

By: Ray

Ray — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 04:21:14 +0000

Addendum to the story, there is a TV news van of some sort outside the house all day Saturday, and they have the lights on and cameras up for what I presume is the evening news.

By: Ray

Ray — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 04:20:41 +0000

Sorry. Disagree. These people, children, adults WHATEVER, CHOOSE to get involved with these activities (gangs, shootings, graffiti). No one is making them. We need a more rigid police force to enforce consequences. We all interact together through rule of law and cooperation. Those that chose to operate outside the social contract do not and should not benefit from their actions, especially when they are at the expense of others.

By: neighbor

neighbor — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 03:32:54 +0000

The children that live in this house are not teens ot preteens they are in their early to mid twenties so they may have been at ac a club like other people their age.

By: Neighbor

Neighbor — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 03:23:58 +0000

Actually another 5 plus shots were fired again @ 5:30 a.m. at the house – immediate police response.