West Seattle Crime Watch: What’s up, what’s down, what’s trending, from new SeaStat briefing, + more

New local crime-trend info today from the latest semi-weekly SeaStat briefing at HQ – all in this slide deck just published via the SPD website. SeaStat does not spotlight all precincts at every briefing, but this time our area was featured on three slides:

MAJOR CRIME CATEGORIES: First slide from the Southwest Precinct (West Seattle and South Park) showed the year-to-date changes in all major-crime categories. (The screengrab is too small/blurry to read in our format, so we’re summarizing, but again, you can see it firsthand here.) First, the increases:

*Aggravated assault, non-domestic-violence: Up 21 percent, 51 incidents YTD compared to 42 a year earlier
*Burglary, non-residential: Up 15 percent, 70 incidents YTD compared to 61 a year earlier
*Robbery: Up 12 percent, 64 incidents YTD compared to 57 a year earlier
*Motor-vehicle theft: Up 7 percent, 245 incidents YTD compared to 230 a year earlier
*Residential burglary: Up 5 percent, 228 incidents YTD compared to 217 a year earlier
*Car prowls: Up 4 percent, 438 incidents YTD compared to 420 a year earlier
*Larceny/theft: Up 4 percent, 479 incidents YTD compared to 459 a year earlier

One other category with an increase is homicide – 1 this year, 0 last year. (This year’s case was in South Park; West Seattle’s last homicide was in December 2013.)

Next, the decreases:

*Aggravated assault, domestic violence: Down 34 percent, 33 incidents YTD, 50 a year earlier
*Rape: Down 13 percent, 7 incidents YTD, 8 a year earlier

POSSIBLE HIGHLAND PARK BURGLARY PATTERN: This also was featured in the SeaStat deck – 8 break-ins between mid-May and mid-June:

You can take a closer look at those incidents via the SPD Police Report map – use the controls at left to choose the same time period, starting May 19th, and to select only burglaries; then click on any location to get the vicinity and date/time, plus report narrative if available.

NORTH ADMIRAL CAR PROWLS, PRE-ARREST: This slide illustrated a point police often make – repeat offenders are often responsible for a sizable number of incidents. This series preceded the June 12th arrest covered here and here – the case of the construction workers who tackled a juvenile car-prowl suspect (with one getting bitten for his trouble):

Since the suspect is a juvenile, information on his current status is not easy to come by, but we’re doing our best to find out.

CRIME-PREVENTION ADVICE: Also today – helpful information from SW/South Precincts Crime Prevention Coordinator Mark Solomon – the topics are window safety and graffiti vandalism:

8 Replies to "West Seattle Crime Watch: What's up, what's down, what's trending, from new SeaStat briefing, + more"

  • xx June 26, 2015 (12:58 pm)

    Up up up….Maybe another “Summer of Safety” is needed.

  • notnewnews June 26, 2015 (4:27 pm)

    During that time period for Highland Park, there were multiple alarms triggered on houses over the course of two weeks or so – dawn and midday – but no entry was made into a lucky few.

    Loud, obnoxious exterior alarms – even if not hooked up to a company – are pretty effective at chasing away the thieves. But they do piss off neighbors in a big way, so keep that in mind.

  • Matt S. June 26, 2015 (5:12 pm)

    Do we know what the corresponding population change has been for the year as well?

  • Ex-Westwood Resident June 26, 2015 (8:02 pm)

    It may be too early to establish a correlation, but I am wondering if the the legalization of marijuana might be having an effect on the crime rates here in WS?
    With school ended, I would be curious to see the crime rates for June, July and August of this year compared to last year.

  • TheGreatKate June 26, 2015 (10:19 pm)

    Ugh! Legalized marijuana as the. Underlying reason for the burglary increase? Really?! When was the last time you saw a motivated pot head?? How about one with a vendetta or mission? Can’t think of any?? Didn’t think so… That’s utter nonsense! I don’t even smoke, but find it’s reductive to go pointing fingers where it makes no sense whatsoever.

    • WSB June 26, 2015 (10:53 pm)

      Generally, when drugs are mentioned as a motive or factor in charging documents, it’s meth, at least in the cases we’ve covered. As for legalized marijuana factoring into anything around here, one thing to consider is that West Seattle still doesn’t have even one I-502-related marijuana store. Medical-marijuana dispensaries date back five years here (not sure about other parts of town), but no “recreational” stores. A couple have opened in SODO close to the bridge within the past year, and one just opened in White Center a few weeks ago. – TR

  • Wild One June 27, 2015 (12:29 am)

    We caught some car prowlers a couple months ago. There were 2 of them working as a team one block apart from each other. They were just checking people’s car door handles and if they were unlocked, rifling through all their stuff. The police came with a rapid response and arrested both of those idiots.
    Stay vigilant people. It really comes down to keeping an eye out on your own neighborhood and taking a proactive approach to stopping crime.

  • HighlandParkNeighbor June 27, 2015 (9:40 am)

    I’m disturbed to see the concentration and frequency with which forced home-entries are occurring in Highland Park. What a supremely dangerous activity – both for the victims and for the perpetrators. I’m not some vigilante, and would be reluctant to use deadly force for any reason – but if someone breaks into my home and puts the health and safety of my loved ones at hazard? Well, they’re going to be on the receiving end of several jacketed hollow points. I hope they catch the criminal(s) that are doing this before anyone gets hurt.

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