@ Block Watch Captains’ Network: Bike-patrol briefing & cybercrime

Along with being among the first to hear that Capt. Pierre Davis is returning to West Seattle as Southwest Precinct commander, the West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network got a briefing this week on the precinct’s new bike patrol.

The guest was Sgt. Jim Britt (right), who is the sergeant for Frank sector (eastern West Seattle and South Park) and explained he is now the “bike sergeant” too – in addition to his ongoing duties, he is in charge of making sure the officers who are part of the patrol get equipment, training, etc. Because the bicycle patrol isn’t technically a separate unit, the officers will all still answer to their respective sectors’ sergeants.

The precinct will have at least two bicycle officers out each and every day on “second watch,” which is 11 am to 8 pm. Precinct Operations Lt. Ron Smith further clarified that means they have two officers with the flexibility to be deployed on bicycles – they have to have cars, too, as they can’t be taken entirely out of the loop for 911 responses.

Six officers in all will have bikes; Officer Scott Luckie and Andy Bass have had bikes for a while now, and, Sgt. Britt said, they also have been trained to become bicycle mechanics.

They ride a very specific type of 21-speed heavy-framed bike called Volcanic, made for emergency response; Luckie and Bass attended training to be able to keep them up and running. They worked with Cycle U here in West Seattle, too.

Bicycles allow officers to move “relatively unscathed” through summertime crowds on Alki, for example. The bicycle adds a foot of height, he notes. Also, they’ll be a visible and approachable presence in Westwood Village. He demonstrated the “very bright light” that the officers will have on their helmet, not just so they’re visible, but so they can see what’s happening around the area they’re going through. The bicycles also have taillights.

Where else will they be deployed? “The places where cars can’t go,” said Sgt. Britt, in both West Seattle and South Park. In Officers Luckie and Bass’s early efforts, WV, Roxhill Park, the park around Hiawatha Community Center are among the places that already have been patrolled; Lincoln Park also will get special attention from the bicycle patrol. Each of those two officers will still answer to their district sergeant, he explained, because they couldn’t add a sergeant just for the bicycle patrol. In the best of all worlds, said Lt. Smith, they’d have twice as many officers, but that’s just not possible, so they’re putting this together the best way they can.

Officer Jon Kiehn, who’s just returned to the SW Precinct’s Community Police Team, said that this will allow officers to catch more people because it’s faster than running and yet almost silent as they come up on suspects from behind.

They’ll have a handheld version of the in-car computers, too. And they’ll be matched up with the new mobile precinct the SW Precinct is getting, once it arrives (it’s still at the manufacturer on the East Coast) – not as big as the old one, but it’ll have a restroom, communications equipment, etc.

Will the officers have cameras? Sgt. Britt was asked. Reply: If and when the body-worn camera experiment makes it to the Southwest Precinct, they will. (Currently it’s still just in the East Precinct.)

Looking ahead a few months – on Night Out, August 4th, the sergeant said, they’ll have officers on bikes stopping by Night Out parties “all over the place.”

CYBERCRIME: Your computer-related information is “out there,” began Officer Kiehn, who piloted the draft edition of a cybercrime presentation he’s working on.

He began by talking about how you have to be very aware of what you are doing on the computer – that e-mails you open, ads you click, are things you want to be exposed to, because “by clicking you’re giving permissions. … Don’t click on things unless you know what you’re allowing.” He mentions the e-mails you might get with just some jumbled words and a link, and the fact you’re putting yourself at risk by clicking that link. Things are not what they seem – so unless you’re absolutely sure, don’t click on a link. (Our tip: Mouse over a link or an ad, and you’ll see toward the bottom of your screen what it will take you to, before you click to go there.)

“Look into having virus protection – not having it is a problem,” said Officer Kiehn.

Passwords? If you’ve learned someone has used your e-mail address without permission, change your password ASAP, he said. He said that you need a really strong one but the stronger, the harder to remember. So think of a string of words that means something to you, he said. Say, your first pet, your first car, your street. For a really good password, you want to have about 21 characters. Then when you have your password, use alternate characters – like 3s for Es, numbers that are their “shift” character alternatives, etc. Or, have a password and at a certain spot insert characters for the specific service it applies to – FB for Facebook, YH for Yahoo!, etc.

Your smartphone is a computer, Officer Kiehn reminds people. When it’s accessible to wi-fi, it might be accessible to someone else. So when you’re just out walking around, turn off the wi-fi.

He also advised, back up anything that’s important to you that’s on your computer.

There’s a lot more to say about computer-related crime, so watch for the full version of his in-the-works briefing at a future WSBWCN meeting. The group usually meets fourth Tuesdays, 6:30 pm, at the precinct; see their updates inbetween meetings at wsblockwatch.wordpress.com. And if you’re interested in forming a Block Watch – they can help, as can Southwest/South Precincts’ Crime Prevention Coordinator Mark Solomon, whose contact info is here.

3 Replies to "@ Block Watch Captains' Network: Bike-patrol briefing & cybercrime"

  • julie98106 March 30, 2015 (7:15 am)

    We are so glad Officer Jon Kiehn will be back. He, officer Nicholson, and officer Flores have been very supportive during problems we have been having. Blessings to you guys.Watch your backs please.

  • WS Taxpayer March 30, 2015 (7:29 am)

    It would be pretty great if the Bike patrol were on Alki from 8PM to 1AM this summer…

  • Alkiadjacent March 30, 2015 (3:08 pm)

    I second the comment by WS Taxpayer – the patrols are needed at Alki in the evening and into the early morning. That is when all the problems happen. Hope they are looking into regular patrols/presence at Alki during the night time hours.

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