Out driving around to check on a few things this morning, we noticed what looked like a particularly prolific graffiti-vandalism spree in recent days – one particular tag (which we will not name or show) in dozens of spots, from safety signs to real-estate signs to concrete construction blockades, where it hadn’t been just days earlier. Can’t say for sure if the vandal is a teenager, but in most cases, graffiti vandalism is done by young offenders. That reminded us we’d been meaning to write about a discussion at last week’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting — an update on the mayor’s proposed youth-violence-prevention program, and what local police are seeing and doing:
Early on in the meeting, during the regular update on area crime concerns, Southwest Precinct Lt. Steve Paulsen discussed the recent tagging troubles in Highland Park and South Delridge (WSB coverage here). He described most of the suspected culprits as repeat troublemakers who live “outside the city, but after school hang out around 8th and Roxbury.” After a few attendees mentioned problems in their neighborhoods, Lt. Paulsen went on to note that the Highland Park graffiti problem had lessened, thanks in no small part to community members washing it off/painting it over as soon as they could. “It shows you care about your neighborhood,” he explained. “If (vandals) see their markings go away immediately, they’re going to go to an area that doesn’t care, where it might stay a while.”
He then discussed some of the specific measures that local law enforcers are doing to try to stop youth-crime problems before they happen: “Touching base with non-English-speaking populations, finding trusted community liaisons reaching out to them,” and finding out what’s happening in the kids’ homes; often, he said, kids with homes where domestic violence is happening “may act out later,” so outreach is being done to try to find out what’s happening at home and whether intervention is necessary.
Police also are working closely, as we’ve reported before, with local high schools and middle schools; the Community Police Team officers are involved there, but as Lt. Paulsen said, they’re not there “to be school officers, but as a point of contact … we don’t want to inhibit the learning process, but want to have a relationship, so that when school staff sees a problem, they have a point of contact they know and can turn to.”
He also mentioned a program last summer in which the Seattle Police Department had middle- and high-school-age kids in a sort of summer-job program, employing them at various precincts around the city: “They were phenomenal,” he recalled. “We had a kid on a harbor boat … he felt like part of the police family. He was there every day,” and made money, too. (That program, he added, was sponsored by the Seattle Police Foundation.)
Later in the meeting, the Crime Prevention Council got an update from Julien Loh, who observed that much of the meeting till that point had been spent talking about youth-crime concerns, and that what starts as something nonviolent like vandalism or break-ins can turn “to something more serious, to guns and violence, to being victims of violence, and that’s not something we want to see.”
While violent crime in general is at one of its lowest points in decades, he explained, the level of juvenile crime has “remained constant,” pointing to a spate of deadly shootings in other areas of Seattle earlier this year, all involving teenagers.
“That’s a very sobering thought to the mayor, and to me – I’ve actually even spoke to one victim’s mother,” Loh said. “We recognize we have a very serious problem on our hands, and we can’t just enforce our way out of it. We have to give youth a new direction.”
You may have heard before about the Youth Violence Prevention Initiative – but he offered more details: “We’re focusing on four distinct populations, including repeat offenders, those arrested and then released, middle-school students (at risk), and victims of violence.” The program is focusing on three particular areas of the city: Southwest (including West Seattle), Southeast, and Central Seattle. (The lead agency in this area is Southwest Youth and Family Services; we talked to its director Steve Daschle shortly after its participation was announced – read that story here.)
“We also want you to understand, instead of expecting kids to go to us, we’re going out to them,” Loh continued. “Services will be area-specific. And for those who ask ‘what are we getting in return for our tax dollars’ – we set a very ambitious goal, to cut youth violence by half. That’ll be measured by cases referred for prosecution in each of those three areas. The mayor felt very strongly about setting the bar high.”
At some schools, they also are looking for a 50 percent reduction in “suspensions blamed on acts of violence.”
The program is projected to cost $9 million, which Loh broke down as “$5.6 million new dollars, $3.6 million redirected dollars. These dollars will fund 800 chances to make a difference” — that’s how many teenagers will be directly targeted, by getting to the “root cause of (what’s going wrong in their lives).”
He says the program’s official start will be in January, ramping up to “full implementation” by May, with a community progress report due a year later. But first, the budget has to be approved, which is expected by Thanksgiving. (You can read more about the Youth Violence Prevention Initiative here.)
One more note related to fighting crime among young people: A new group called Detention Prevention is meeting monthly, with its focus on families who’ve had kids/teens in youth detention, to try to keep them from returning. Its next meeting is November 3rd, 7 pm, Westwood Christian Assembly, 9252 16th SW.
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