Cool crowd, both hosts and visitors, at the police department’s annual Picnic at the Precinct this afternoon. As big and busy as WS is, it’s hard to believe we didn’t get our own police precinct till 2003. It’s a lovely building, but today (before the rain moved in) most of the fun was out in the street on the building’s south side; they shut down Webster for the occasion. Our first photo here is a great crowd shot sent in by WSB reader LyndaB:

(Thanks, LyndaB!) From here, photos are by the WSB team. Besides meeting-and-greeting, the police showed off some of their arsenal, including this robot:

Next — a closeup of the robot, Chief Kerlikowske in casual wear, one of the SPD vehicles you don’t see every day, and more:

In the photo below, that’s the chief on the right side; our coverage team tells us a badge/logo was embroidered into his polo shirt:

We’re looking up the official name for A WSB reader has kindly informed us that this imposing-looking vehicle is a Lenco BearCat, explaining it is “best described as a civilian rescue vehicle … (providing) armor for those officers rescuing the citizens and for the citizens being rescued”:

Whether you got to today’s precinct picnic or not, there’s another great chance in a few days to plug yourself into the crimefighting and crime-prevention resources of West Seattle: This Tuesday night @ the precinct, the West Seattle Community Safety Partnership holds its monthly meeting, open to all, with a focus this time on a topic near and dear to many of our neighborhoods — protecting yourself from burglars.