Why Holy Rosary was the safest place in West Seattle this morning

motorcade1.jpg

agentsinstreet.jpg

Those photos show the lineup of law-enforcement vehicles — and law enforcers — on 42nd SW between Holy Rosary‘s church and school this morning, after a motorcade that kicked off a “Red Ribbon Week” drug-awareness rally; (added at 1:47 pm) here’s video of the motorcade’s arrival, as students stood on the curb to welcome the visitors:

The rally had a bigtime guest list, including Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske (media weren’t allowed to photograph students’ faces closeup, a fairly common rule for coverage of schools’ events, so that’s why you’re seeing the tops of heads here):

kerlikowske.jpg

Holy Rosary was chosen as the only school in Seattle to host this major event this year (there was one in Tacoma too) — and at the assembly that followed the show of force in the street (plus a helicopter landing on the playground), students heard from the widow of murdered DEA agent Enrique Camarena, the inspiration for “Red Ribbon Week.” This wasn’t your average “drugs are bad, don’t do them, see ya” rally – Mika Camarena spoke quietly and powerfully to ask the children to respect themselves and their health, as well as those in uniform. In the middle of the gym where she and others spoke was a bust of her late husband, which she acknowledged as she walked up:

Just before the indoor portion of the assembly began, this DEA chopper landed on the playground out back (who needs a helipad?):

The chopper and various law enforcers (including Duke the Seattle Police drug dog, shown below with his human partner) were on display as show-and-tell for Holy Rosary students after the assembly.

dukeandpartner.jpg

Today’s assembly was emceed by local TV reporter Jim Dever, who lives in West Seattle. As part of Red Ribbon Week, by the way, Holy Rosary students have made artwork that’s on display at Jefferson Square Safeway; you can see samples on the school’s home page (scroll down).

40 Replies to "Why Holy Rosary was the safest place in West Seattle this morning"

  • ranquet91 October 16, 2008 (12:45 pm)

    Really, why does the D.E.A. need a Hummer?

  • JenV October 16, 2008 (12:54 pm)

    because they feel…inadequate in some way? ;)

  • swthistle October 16, 2008 (1:06 pm)

    DEA has a hummer because some drug offender relinquished it….

  • Alice October 16, 2008 (2:41 pm)

    Umm, clearly Holy Rosary is the school in Seattle that most needs a drug intervention?

    Seriously, if you’re going to have such a big deal kickoff – why not do it somewhere it might actually make a difference in the lives of a lot of children?

  • WSB October 16, 2008 (2:46 pm)

    I asked one of the PIOs why Holy Rosary. It’s one of the schools with which they work – no particular reason otherwise, they said, though they are hoping to get more schools in the area to observe Red Ribbon Week (it’s been going on a long time — Agent Camarena was killed in the ’80s – but apparently this is not an entirely ubiquitous observation). And drug abuse certainly strikes across socioeconomic lines.

  • ranquet91 October 16, 2008 (2:47 pm)

    Alice,

    There may be a possibility that many of the catholic school children are addicted to crack?

    But on a more serious note… What gives? I think of many schools that could have benefited from this much more.

  • HR Mom October 16, 2008 (5:09 pm)

    This would have been a great event where ever it was held. It was held at Holy Rosary because parents and staff took the initiative to bring it there. It was held for the K-8 kids because, and this comes from one of the DEA Agents I spoke to, by High School it’s too late. This wasn’t an intervention – it was a way to raise awareness of how big the drug problem is in this country and how many agencies are committed to fighting the problem. A good education is one of the best gifts we give our children and if that means they are fortunate enough to go to a school that holds events like this to raise their awareness, I’m all for it. Kids tend to listen a little more closely to important messages like this when they aren’t being repeated by a parent for the millionth time. The speakers and agencies involved in todays event made it fun and exciting for the kids in addition to delivering a strong message. It was a great event and I’m proud my kids were part of it – they thought it was fantastic!

  • cmt October 16, 2008 (6:21 pm)

    Interesting 42nd street is one way going north, but all the cars are going southbound. Wow and a helicopter too, were they giving rides?

  • M October 16, 2008 (6:28 pm)

    This seems like a wee bit of overkill to me. Holy Rosary? Really? Probably because the privileged kids never see police, hummers or drug seeking helicopters in their neighborhoods… they probably didn’t even know such wonderful things existed…..

  • A Mom October 16, 2008 (7:17 pm)

    Wow! It’s not hard to understand why there is not peace in this world when you read some of these comments. I feel it was a great event and I appreciate all of our men and women who serve in uniform and out of uniform for the good of us all- Bless you and thank you from a Mom who worries everyday about the well-being of her children. You are truly all heroes in my heart and I hope that this event will be available to others in the area as well as I think the anti-drug message is such an important one to spread!

  • WSB October 16, 2008 (7:54 pm)

    CMT, the street was blocked off so that the motorcade could enter in what would otherwise have been the wrong way – they staged on the next street north, which was (among other reasons to which I’m not privy) less disruptive to a busy Junction street. No helicopter rides that I know of.

  • seriously? October 16, 2008 (8:23 pm)

    What is with the Hummer? Also, what is with the undercovers with Yukon Denalis? Get a Prius, then pull someone over. It’s disgusting.

  • Joey October 16, 2008 (8:29 pm)

    Wow.

    School envy.

    Aren’t there more important things to worry about?

  • WesCAddle October 16, 2008 (8:35 pm)

    Good post HR Mom! It’s true that when parents and faculty take initiative and are involved, great things happen.

    Looks like it was a great event!

  • WSB October 16, 2008 (8:55 pm)

    @8:23 pm – These folks do more than “pull someone over.” Anyone who wants to know more can follow the links to the story of agent Enrique Camarena, or click to listen to our clip of what his widow had to say (the second half of her speech was even more moving – I will review our video to see if there’s a usable clip, as our angle was blocked when she moved to the podium). After 30 years in media, I’ve been to (or assigned coverage of) a gazillion school rallies, but as I wrote above, this one was far from the standard-issue fare, and we thought it important to cover (we didn’t get a media advisory asking us to cover it, by the way – I found the event previewed on the school website). Very smoothly organized by Holy Rosary, too, which had to get the entire student body outside and inside as well as orchestrating it around the visitors (which included the SPD honor guard – I realize I forgot to add a photo of them lining the entrance to the school).

  • Bruce October 16, 2008 (9:10 pm)

    Umm, clearly Holy Rosary is the school in Seattle that most needs a drug intervention?

    Seriously, if you’re going to have such a big deal kickoff – why not do it somewhere it might actually make a difference in the lives of a lot of children?

    Comment by Alice — October 16, 08 2:41 pm #

    GIMME A BREAK! Do you know of certain schools where drug trafficking is happening? If so, then put your words to test and DO SOMETHINGN ABOUT IT! Drugs take victims, no matter where they live. Maybe next year, why don’t you take the initiative and ask for such programs instead of being so negative! Have you made any calls asking for such programs or is it easier to sit back and make judgements? ALL of our kids matter, so why not do something about it and quit complaining! ALL OF THEM! Let’s for once, let our children be the focal point -they are our future and they MATTER!

  • thee October 16, 2008 (10:27 pm)

    hooray! the drug war comes to WS!

    thee
    wonders how much $$$ this cost me…

  • WSB October 17, 2008 (12:11 am)

    fyi
    P-I story now posted
    http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/383658_antidrug17.html
    similar comments.
    The P-I guy was one of only two other media reps I saw (the other was a photojournalist from my ex-station, Q13 – you can see him in our video clip of the motorcade arrival, he was getting down on the ground for the artsy angle, since we were told to be careful not to get video/photos of the agents’ faces)

  • tipsy nulu October 17, 2008 (8:52 am)

    I hope Red Ribbon Week addresses our most deadly threats – alcohol, tobacco & prescription drugs. All are legal.

  • HB October 17, 2008 (9:05 am)

    You can’t assume that all kids who attend Catholic School are “privileged”. I attended Catholic School for 12 years on grants and scholarships because my single parent family didn’t have the money to pay for it. Catholic parishes subsidize a lot of children’s education because one goal they have is to make religious education available to everyone, regardless of socioeconomic status. Also, when I was in high school the kids with the biggest drug problems were usually the most privileged.

  • Too afraid to give real name October 17, 2008 (9:49 am)

    I have great admiration for any law enforcement officer or member of the military who puts him/herself into harm’s way. Leaving that aside, I find this display of military force very disturbing and misguided. The most jarring part for me is that, based on the posts, I seem to be nearly alone in the at reaction. Look – I don’t use illegal drugs, but I have been an adult over the entire course of the US “drug war”. This is what it has brought us: A profoundly, dangerously weakened constitution; Rampant, violent criminal street gangs; A bloated, expensive criminal justice system stocked to bursting with an unprecedented percentage of our population; and more harm than ever from the abuse of drugs – drugs that have been made ever more potent, concealable and toxic due to… drug prohibition and the futile attmpts to enforce it. Oh, and a military deployment in front of a Catholic grade school. This should send chills down the spine of any freedom-loving American.

  • TB October 17, 2008 (9:54 am)

    Agreed that drugs cut across socioeconomic, religious, cultural boundaries. This was an impressive kickoff, one that students will remember. Mika Cararena spoke eloquently about her reasons for dedicating her life to the mission of keeping kids off drugs, and putting people away who peddle drugs. She cares about all kids and drove that message home by speaking for all of us about how much we love our children. That cuts across socioeconomic, religious and cultural boundaries too. As a person whose family has experienced how destructive drugs are, I appreciated the time and work it took to get everyone out there to deliver that message. Thank you to everyone who worked hard to coordinate the event.

  • JH October 17, 2008 (10:20 am)

    For Seriously?’s comment regarding a Prius. Federal agents have all sorts of undercover cars, including SUVs. It’s a little hard to transport prisoners in a Prius. The government pays for these cars-only a few agencies actually own their cars. The feds do search warrants, arrests, surveillances-not usually pulling over people like street cops unless that person is being followed and needs to be arrested anyway. During search warrants, usually multiple subjects are taken out. Hence the SUVs and other undercover cars. And I’m not just babbling here-I know exactly what I’m talking about. Too bad I was too busy to participate!

    And to Thee, why would this cost you money? This was a work day for these people. They’re taking the time out of their busy schedules chasing bad guys to do some PR. See all the ICE jackets? That is one busy agency. Kudos to them!

    I think it’s great. I could only imagine the comments if this was done in another part of Seattle that isn’t so nice as WS. It would be the same…blah blah blah why did they have to come to this neighborhood? Just because we have drive-by shootings???

    Just my two cents.

  • sign pollution nulu October 17, 2008 (10:48 am)

    JH This costs all of us taxpayers money. As you said, “They’re taking the time out of their busy schedules chasing bad guys to do some PR.” Do you think they were not getting paid? That DEA chopper costs us taxpayers thousands of dollars per hour. The event must have been in the tens of thousands $$$ when you add up all time taken away from duties, planning, staging, transportation, coffee and donuts. Besides who was chasing the bad guys when these enforcers were doing PR?
    This dog and pony event appears to be aping Hollywood with its fascistic show of brutal military force. On view is the proof of the decades long policy failure of THE WAR ON DRUGS – a fully entrenched beauracracy/industry that utilizes school children when it feels it needs a pat on the back or a little PR.

  • EH October 17, 2008 (1:33 pm)

    ANY child can be a victim of drug abuse. Catholic kids aren’t immune to this and they need to know how to recognize drug abuse among their peers as much as any other child. It just so happens that the parents of HR are in tune with this and wanted to do something about it.
    So, to all you parents that are complaining about HR having the honor of hosting this event, get off your seats and organize something for YOUR school!
    And if you are too busy for that, please pray for the graduating members of Holy Rosary classes 1983-1985 whose live have rotted away from drug use. Out of respect for them, I won’t post there names here, but I know who they are and I wish the Red Ribbon Campaign was in effect back then!

  • Paul October 17, 2008 (1:38 pm)

    I agree with EH…good point! Private school students are probably more at risk because alot of them can afford the drugs.

  • CC October 17, 2008 (2:53 pm)

    Wow, a friend alerted me to all the comment traffic. Shocking to someone who works 60 hours a week to afford Catholic school that so many people have time to opine on this issue. I guess the good news is none of you are on the streets and doing drugs!
    CC

  • thee October 17, 2008 (6:22 pm)

    JH,
    They landed a freaking heliocopter on the street. Have you checked the price of chopper fuel lately dude? I can assure you, it ain’t cheap. Plus, the mobilized what… 50 officers and a coupla dogs? Do you think they were volunteering? No, you and I were paying for this display when there are open air drug markets w/in 10 miles. I can assure you, JH, while you were enjoying the show, the crack and the meth were changing hands just like they do every single day — chopper or no chopper.

    thee
    reality-based

  • Bruce October 17, 2008 (9:19 pm)

    Amazing – the small minded who think that our kids are not worth the effort of positive police experieneces and words of encouragement to make the right choices and grow up to be their dreams. WOW! WOW! WOW! Law enforcement is a thankless job and by the comments of the FEW, it surely shows the lack of respect for those who are silent heros putting their lives on the line each day. I would hope that the few who criticize, would be shy to call for help from the police when they are victimized but would guess to say they are the first to yell for help and then say there wasn’t enough done. Or maybe your kid becomes addicted – guess you do not need any help nor should you, right. If you are parents of children, you should be standing up and hoping that POSITIVE influences would surround your children because I witnessed this first hand and these people care. Positive words and great experiences are so much better than DOING NOTHING AND you complainers do nothing but complain. Amazing to think that our kids are not worthwhile to made a positive experience. As for “military deployment” – that is just someone living in a bubble. I think it was great and my hats off to you. DO MORE OF THIS–OUR KIDS VULNERABLE YEARS ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT!

  • GenHillOne October 17, 2008 (10:55 pm)

    I’d like to see this display – minus the ridiculously over-the-top chopper – spread out over several schools. I’m sure the speeches would be just as eloquent and impactful, while reaching many more and leaving agents on the street. I’m glad that there was so much parental involvement, but it’s probably unfair to tell others to “get off (of their) butts” to organize something. In all my PTA time, I’ve never heard about this opportunity. I wonder if other WS schools even know. And as a sidenote, it warms my heart to know the DEA thinks high school kids are a lost cause.

  • Carol October 18, 2008 (3:49 pm)

    More winning hearts and minds through “guns and handcuffs” propaganda. I love credible public health messages reinforced at gun point. My question is: Did they take some of the kids up the helicopter to look for weed?

  • JH October 18, 2008 (5:35 pm)

    Enough already! I wasn’t enjoying the show. I was out chasing the bad guys. That’s a big hint. Look at what I wrote. How else would I know that stuff? Sometimes we like to do something good for communities. I wasn’t there like I said-I was busy working. And there were plenty of agents keeping you safe while this great event was occurring. I don’t know anything about a helicopter landing in the street. I wasn’t part of this event because I’m not a DEA or ICE agent. And yes, my fellow LEOs were volunteering. I don’t mean they weren’t getting paid-they wanted to do this. I also don’t sit around thinking that taxpayers are paying my salary to put my life on the line every day. I’m busy watching my back and my coworkers’ backs.

    Talk about drama!

    I volunteer for Special Olympics too. Certainly your tax money isn’t paying for that. Give us a break. You have no idea what our job is like unless you’re in our shoes.

    Oh, and my post here yesterday was during a well-earned break! ha

    See, you got me so defensive that I had to say things I never wanted to say on this blog. I don’t want to be JH the Fed here!

  • WSB October 18, 2008 (8:31 pm)

    Thanks for momentarily decloaking as JH the Fed, and thanks for whatever job it is you do. We certainly all can vigorously argue what we believe should be legal and illegal – as evidence by the discussion here – but to the greater point of keeping the peace and protecting lives, we are lucky there are people who WANT to do that often-thankless job.

  • Bruce October 19, 2008 (6:38 pm)

    Once again if you want something such as this – make contact and ask for it. Since you didn’t know before, now you do. There is information on the web about this program and others. I think the point is, instead of complaining – be happy that you now know and pick up the phone and make a request. I don’t think anyone said that highschool kids are a “lost cause” and if you have that proof that that is DEA’s opinion and that was said, then post it. Let’s be factual here and not make this what it isn’t. Try to take something good from this and make a difference. Everyone has at least five minutes in their week to make a difference with a phone call to the DEA or try using google instead of posting complaints on such web sites. Ask questions on such programs. I thank all of the law enforcement for their courage and willingness to step back from their investigations and think about our children. THANK YOU! No complaints here and I encourage you to make things like this happen all of the time.

  • Bruce October 19, 2008 (6:41 pm)

    By the way, this program was also at a Tacoma school. Wonder if those parents are complaining such as this – haven’t seen one thing on the web. Interesting.

  • WSB October 19, 2008 (7:47 pm)

    Perhaps nobody bothered to cover it in Tacoma. I can’t even find proof of an article by the News-Tribune newspaper, which is the major local news source down there. As for the West Seattle event, I was surprised not to see more media at Holy Rosary – as mentioned above, unless I missed someone, it was me, the P-I, and a photographer from Channel 13 – this wasn’t just a West Seattle deal, this was the only event of its kind in the city, and aside from all the other components of the event, Mrs. Camarena’s presence was certainly newsworthy, at both the regional level and neighborhood level – TR

  • GenHillOne October 20, 2008 (8:21 am)

    “It was held for the K-8 kids because, and this comes from one of the DEA Agents I spoke to, by High School it’s too late.” HR Mom (How would you read that sentence, Bruce?)
    —–
    If the presentation is as good as reported, I’m sure there will be other schools requesting such an event in the future, perhaps even outside of WS. I highly doubt that HR found out about this by perusing the DEA website, but thanks for the suggestion, Bruce. To think that someone without any inside connection should just have the thought to Google “school assemblies with the DEA” is preposterous and does not indicate a lack of initiative.
    —–
    I did use Google though. I was surprised to learn that the hourly costs of operating a helicopter are less than I had thought. I will share, because if the school didn’t pay for it, then a federal program’s budget did, and that comes back to us. They range from $400-$600 depending on the type. Cost doesn’t change my opinion that it was an over the top PR stunt, however. Landing a helicopter always has an element of risk and putting in the middle of a neighborhood just for show seems like poor judgment to me. In the video, you can see the close proximity to houses, local traffic, and wires.

  • JH October 20, 2008 (5:11 pm)

    There was an interesting one-page ad in The Seattle Times today about prescription drugs and teens. I have a teen and made her read the entire thing!

  • HR Mom October 20, 2008 (7:57 pm)

    For the record: The DEA Agent I spoke to did NOT infer, suggest, or lead me to believe that they think High School kids are a “Lost Cause”. Our conversation was about the event and whether or not they take it to High Schools. (I wrote about why the event was at Holy Rosary). Simply put – this event was geared toward the K-8 crowd; a High School would get a different program geared toward a different audience. So, sorry, no hidden agenda or underlying message for you to try to uncover further. . .just a mom standing up for a drug awareness event that I’m glad my kids were able to be part of.

  • Alice October 26, 2008 (11:25 pm)

    Very late reply to what people have replied to me:

    What I meant was, students whose parents are deeply involved have a significantly lower chance of having all kinds of troubles. Not no chance, just a significantly lower one.

    Holy Rosary is a school with involved parents, as evidenced by the fact that this big event was brought there in part by the parents. I think it would be nice to have something this big in a school (yes, elementary school is a great idea) where the parents are not so involved. Give THOSE kids a chance too.

    In case you’re wondering if my assumptions are unfounded, I attended both private and public schools, and I’ve had friends from both who fell to the muse of drugs/sex/weapons/gangs/etc. I do apologize for my implication that drugs do not cut across socioeconomic lines, I’d need to do significantly more research before stating that.

    I have nothing against this event at Holy Rosary. I think that’s great, I agree, all kids need drug education. I just wish that the kids (especially youngsters) who don’t have parents who fight tooth and nail for their livelihood and for them to get such a great education could benefit from programs like this too. And I’ve seen a lot of those kids.

    All this aside, I applaud the parents of Holy Rosary for bringing this to their kids. I think we need more programs across all schools and all grades that encourage parent involvement in the education of their kids. Just like the HR parents.

Sorry, comment time is over.