Taking a BIG bite out of crime

Two bits of good news:

The P-I says (opening with a couple of West Seattle anecdotes) car theft is way down.

-The minutes from the last SW District Council meeting say tagging is way down because cops have recently nabbed no fewer than 10 graffiti vandals.

8 Replies to "Taking a BIG bite out of crime"

  • V. Ba February 16, 2007 (9:35 am)

    Car theft may be down but car prowls are continuing to be a problem at least in the Morgan Junction area. I’m moving to an apt building with a garage as my car has been broken into something like 6 times in 3 years in the current building – twice in the last week… It’s an incredibly frustrating crime – hope they can continue to do more about this. Thanks for posting.

  • Sue February 16, 2007 (9:59 am)

    I’m originally from NYC where everybody had “The Club” on their steering wheels to help deter car theft. When I moved to Lynnwood (right near I-5 in a car-theft haven), everybody laughed at us for having them on our cars. But time and time again, everybody in the complex seemed to have their cars stolen except us. Same here in WS, living on Delridge in the supposedly “bad neighborhood.” I also don’t leave anything inside my car to attract anyone’s attention. Food for thought.

  • Gina February 16, 2007 (8:58 pm)

    I am surprised by how many people on my block have one and two car garages, and still park on the street. Every now and then I see a shattered window, or eggs tossed. The garages? Full of crap. Not home workshops. Full of cardboard boxes, old mattresses, broken ping pong tables, empty plastic boxes, old televisions and computers stacked to the rafters. Maybe 100 bucks worth of stuff if the homeowner had a garage sale. In the meantime the 20,000 dollar fleet of vehicles sits out on the street. Boxes can be saved, but they also can be stored FLAT!

    I think the home garage is the number one car theft deterrent.

    Those without a garage would be able to keep a better eye on their car, and perhaps be able to park in front of their residence without all those other cars left on the street.

  • Soupytwist February 17, 2007 (12:53 pm)

    I second Gina – as an apartment dweller I am envious of the single family homes with garages that surround my apartment building. And no one parks their cars in them. Full of crap.

    My other gripe is that some of the homeowners use my apartment’s lot to park their cars off street. You have a garage and street parking, and a driveway – why are you using my apartment’s space? Because you suck!

  • Keith February 18, 2007 (11:49 am)

    That’s great news about the tagging busts!

  • Chet Desmond February 19, 2007 (3:01 pm)

    I seriously don’t believe in flogging but I almost want to post that taggers should be flogged! .. I never understood how spray painting your name, initials, or sign made you feel better about yourself.. how juvenile! This seems like one of the most pointless, destructive things someone can do. Displaced agression maybe? If your dad was a jerk growing up, go tell him he’s a jerk or tag his car/house.. don’t come to my fence or a random business! How is this cool or good or anything?

  • Lois February 24, 2007 (12:33 am)

    Kudos to the SW Precinct officers who came up with a plan based on recent graffiti sprees and then caught a few kids involved in tagging in the act. Those kids spilled the beans on other kids, who then rolled on other kids, etc. Now, many local taggers have been identified, thanks to some very effective police work.

    Some of the youths’ families are cooperating and supervising cleanup and/or repainting. The youths are mostly middle school age, a few high school age.

    I know of other recent graffiti taggers identified when images of prolific “taggers” were shown to teachers and other school personnel. They were able to identify potential taggers by similar tags plastered on their notebooks, clothing, lockers, etc.

  • Chet Desmond February 27, 2007 (8:30 am)

    Schweeeeet!

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