11:15 AM: More changes for Seattle Police leadership. Newly promoted Capt. Pierre Davis has been leading the Southwest Precinct since former commander Joe Kessler‘s recent promotion to Assistant Chief, but he had warned it might just be interim, and an announcement just out from SPD indicates that’s the case: Capt. Davis’s permanent role has been announced as East Precinct commander, while the new Southwest Precinct commander is Capt. Steve Wilske. So far, research indicates Capt. Wilske’s past roles have included leadership of various SPD units including SWAT, Homicide, and Robbery/Fugitive/Gang. More information as we get it.

ADDED 4:57 PM: Capt. Wilske currently leads the department’s Force Investigations Unit. He’s been with SPD more than 20 years.

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Deb Greer and Karen Berge, founders of the West Seattle Block Watch Captains’ Network, launched its first meeting of 2014 by announcing proudly that WSBWCN is starting its fifth year.

They have always noted that you don’t have to be a captain, or even a Block Watch member, to attend, and in fact, about a third of the ~15 attendees said they were not – though some were getting ready to organize one. Others, meantime, identified themselves as longtime captains.

Also on hand for the meeting in the Southwest Precinct‘s meeting room: The precinct’s current top two leaders, new commander Captain Pierre Davis and Operations Lt. Ron Smith.

Capt. Davis told the group that Block Watches are the first step to “helping us catch the bad guys” and that the setup here in West Seattle is “second to none,” a “true partnership.” Lt. Smith echoed the appreciation and reiterated, “If you see something suspicious, report it.”

Centerpiece of the meeting was an appearance by Stephen Padua of SDOT, talking about the city’s Neighborhood Traffic Operations program – making clear he’s taking about neighborhood streets, not arterials. (Volume defines which streets are arterials and which are not – there’s a different process for arterials.)

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From Kate:

My daughter was taking out the trash, when she was approached by a male stranger driving a newer white compact car. He offered her a ride. As she came in to tell me, he slowly drove south on Beach Drive and stopped a few buildings away. Then he turned around and drove back north on Alki.

She says it happened at about 7:35 pm, and she called 911. We did hear police dispatched to look around the area (described as near where Alki/Beach Drive meet). That’s all the description information we have; last report of someone being approached was January 9th in the Roxhill area, and that car was described as silver/gray.

10:45 PM: If you expect to be driving to/from the West Seattle Bridge via 1st Avenue South any time in the next few hours – you’ll likely want to choose an alternate route. There’s heavy police activity at 1st and Hanford, near the on/offramp to/from the westbound bridge, right now after a shooting involving police. No official information about the circumstances yet, but our partners at The Seattle Times report a man in his 30s undergoing CPR after this happened shortly before 10 pm.

11:46 PM: Still no official updates but you can see from KING 5’s report that this was indeed close to the 1st Avenue South ramp on the north side of the bridge.

1:52 AM: Police have just posted a summary on SPD Blotter. They say they were called about a man “waving” a gun at a bus stop in the 2700 block of 1st South (which would be closer to Lander than the address described earlier), and that an officer shot the man while he was still holding the gun. He is described as having life-threatening injuries when transported, but no current condition is given.

2:09 AM: Per radio communications, police are reopening 1st Avenue South.

2:50 PM: SPD has just updated the Blotter summary with news that the 36-year-old man who was shot has died.

3:19 PM: Changes continue at the top in Seattle Police – and now there’s a West Seattle ripple effect: This afternoon multiple sources confirm to WSB that Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Joe Kessler is becoming an assistant chief. Just yesterday, he told us about the promotion of his second-in-command, Pierre Davis, to captain. This follows Mayor Ed Murray‘s recent announcement of Harry Bailey as interim chief, with previous interim chief Jim Pugel returning to assistant chief, a rank from which three men have recently or are about to have departed. No other details yet about exactly what this means for West Seattle police leadership, but we expect to find out more during next Tuesday’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting at the precinct, if not sooner. Kessler worked in the downtown administration before returning to lead the local precinct one year ago.

ADDED 7:02 PM: Capt. Davis confirms that he “will be commanding this precinct until other decisions are made.” And Assistant Chief Kessler’s promotion, among others, is now officially mentioned on SPD Blotter.

ADDED 10:29 PM: A farewell note from Kessler:

As I prepare to move once again from the Southwest Precinct, I would like to take a minute to thank all of you for allowing me to come back “home” again last year. After spending two and a half years as your Precinct Commander prior to my departure in 2010, it was my great pleasure to have the opportunity to come back to the Southwest Precinct and again serve this community.

The men and women of your Precinct bring a high level of professionalism and pride to their work.

It is only through your support and working together that creates the great environment that allows our officers to provide the quality of service you have come to expect. I have appreciated the hard work of you and our community leaders who have developed strong working relationships with our officers to make this community safe.

Again, it has been a pleasure to serve your community and thank you for your support and I look forward to working with you in the future.

Sincerely,

A/Chief Joe Kessler
Southwest Precinct

Three years after arriving at the Southwest Precinct to serve as its second-in-command, the Operations Lieutenant, Pierre Davis (left) has a new rank – captain. That’s the word from precinct commander Capt. Joe Kessler today. He tells WSB, “I couldn’t be prouder of him. It is a well-deserved promotion to one of the best commanders in the Police Department. He will be staying with us at the Precinct until the Chief makes the final decision on where he will be permanently assigned.” Capt. Davis is expected to present the crime-trends briefing at next Tuesday’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting, so if you go, you can congratulate him in person.

Police are checking on possible gunfire that has been heard – according to reports we’ve received – in North Delridge, High Point, and Puget Ridge. We haven’t heard anything yet indicating whether they’ve determined if it was shots or fireworks, but we do know that so far, no one has turned up anywhere as having BEEN shot.

11:08 AM: The official announcement has just been made at City Hall: Mayor Ed Murray has appointed a new interim Chief of Police, retired former assistant chief Harry Bailey. The previous interim chief, Jim Pugel, returns to his previous assistant-chief role. The mayor is appointing a committee to help find a permanent chief and hopes it will happen fast – by April. More details are in this report from our partners at The Seattle Times (we’ll update the link when they publish a longer story later). Though Chief Bailey retired more than five years ago, he worked as a liaison/consultant for SPD and the mayor’s office as they worked through reform, ethics, and community relations in the past few years, as did Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Joe Kessler, who is with Bailey in the 2012 photo at right, shared with us during Night Out coverage, when the two visited SW Precinct Advisory Committee rep Pete Spalding (who shared the photo that night) and neighbors on Pigeon Point. First reaction in is from the Seattle Police Officers’ Guild, which calls the appointment an “excellent decision,” adding, “Chief Bailey is highly respected by the rank and file officers and the communities of Seattle.”

12:10 PM: The official news release is out and it includes word of a new city website related to the search for a permanent chief; there we find that community forums are set as part of the search, including one in West Seattle, 6 pm January 30th at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (4408 Delridge Way SW).

ADDED: The mayor has also sent a letter to the SPD rank-and-file – see it here (PDF).

Four cars were involved in a crash on SW Thistle at 35th SW earlier this evening, but you would have only counted three at the scene; police say they found a fourth driver a few blocks away at 37th and Cloverdale. We’re told one person was taken to the hospital “for observation.” Officers were still sorting out what happened; the scene is now cleared.

1:58 PM: Seattle Police are searching for a man reported to have jumped out of the bushes near the east side of West Seattle High School, in the Walnut/Stevens vicinity. Police say the man was reported to have grabbed the arm of a passing female, who hit him and ran into the school. Police were not able to tell us if she is a student. She was not hurt. The man was described as white, 30s-40s, medium build, shoulder-length brown hair, about 5-11, in a blue zipup jacket and black pants.

2:06 PM UPDATE: Right after we talked with SPD media-relations Det. Jeff Kappel about this incident, which we had heard on the scanner, SPD mentioned it on Twitter and described the victim as a student. (Added: The SPD Blotter version pulls back on that but says she’s 16.)

2:43 PM UPDATE: Here’s principal Ruth Medsker‘s note just sent to WSHS families, forwarded to us by a parent:

Today, one of our students was off campus during lunch when she was grabbed by a male stranger. She was able to break away and ran back to school, where she immediately reported it to our school administration. We called 9-1-1 and the police responded quickly.

Please be assured that we are committed to keeping our students safe while they are at school. We will continue to remind students to report these types of incidents to us immediately, and we also encourage you to discuss personal safety with your student.

Quick shoutout in honor of a West Seattleite’s fast action after a collision involving a police officer: You might have heard about what Michael Katz did when he saw a driver hit a Seattle Police motorcycle officer in SODO yesterday – as explained in the SPD Blotter summary, “A man ran over to our officer and notified dispatch by using the officer’s radio. His quick-thinking and calm demeanor alerted officers to the situation and sped up emergency response.” A WSB reader tipped us later that the man was a West Seattleite, and we made contact with Katz today to confirm. No, he’s never used a radio like that before, he told us, but “they’re pretty user-friendly.” P.S.: We have an inquiry out to SPD to ask how the officer is doing.

(Photos by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand)
At Don Armeni Boat Ramp this morning, Seattle Police were with Ballard Marine Construction, the company that owns the boat that capsized off Constellation Park in a Friday gale (WSB coverage here), examining it:

The overturned boat was towed to Don Armeni late yesterday, hours after the Seattle Fire and Police Departments and U.S. Coast Guard teamed up for the rescue effort. Three crew members survived; the man described by SFD spokesperson Kyle Moore as the boat’s captain did not. Today, our partners at The Seattle Times report that the King County Medical Examiner’s Office is identifying him as 40-year-old Anthony Collins of Port Orchard. He was found in the boat’s cabin more than half an hour after it flipped, according to Moore, and flown by helicopter to Harborview Medical Center after SFD divers got him out. The three survivors, taken ashore by the Coast Guard and then transported to HMC, were described as being in satisfactory condition.

Diving was part of today’s work at Don Armeni; from the lookout north of the ramp, communications equipment connected to someone underwater was visible on the dock, and audible. Another salvage service was on hand too.

According to a comment on our Friday coverage, the crew’s survey work was related to a King County outfall in the area. The county has a stormwater-treatment plant across Beach Drive from Constellation Park. BMC’s website lists numerous local public-sector projects with which it has worked, including the South Park Bridge and Highway 99 tunnel.

In case you wondered what the Seattle Police SWAT team was doing near 42nd and Oregon tonight – no, there’s no crime, no standoff, no warrant service. They’re training at houses that will be torn down for the 78-unit Junction Flats apartment project in the 4400 block of 42nd SW. The daylight photo is courtesy of Jason:

Kitty corner from this site, where the Oregon 42 apartment building is almost complete, the SWAT team trained at then-to-be-demolished homes a year and a half ago.

(P.S. Thanks to the parent from Hope Lutheran across the street who gave us heads-up after a note from the school mentioned this training was scheduled.)