That’s Benjamin Kinlow, crime-prevention coordinator for the Southwest Precinct, with Admiral Neighborhood Association president Katy Walum at last night’s ANA meeting. He’s holding one of the flyers that he circulates in neighborhoods that have burglaries but no Block Watch groups. The one he’s holding is the “first burglary” alert; if there’s a second in the same neighborhood within 12 months, and still no Block Watch, there’s a pink flyer; a 3rd one, bright yellow; and he says he’s even circulated some “4th notices.” His point: Form a Block Watch. His page on the Southwest Precinct website explains how. Just last week, he told ANA, 40 people showed up for a Block Watch-organizing meeting he led. West Seattle has hundreds of Block Watch groups; almost 300 of them had block parties for Night Out last summer. He was asked how to tell if your block HAS a Block Watch; Kinlow’s reply, “If you don’t know if you have one, then you probably don’t have one” – in other words, a good Block Watch is an active one; communicating with neighbors can be a huge step toward fighting crime. ANA will work with him to invite area Block Watch captains to a future ANA meeting, date TBA. He offered a few more random crimefighting tips: If you have a ladder outside, put it away – they can be stolen (for either breaking in through upper windows, or for metal-theft money); he also suggested “No Solicitors” signs for entire blocks – so if someone is seen nearby, you KNOW they’re likely a caser. One other date he shared: Picnic at the Precinct will be 1-4 pm August 14 this year. More to come from last night’s Admiral meeting, non-crime topics, in a separate report; but first, we have a few Crime Watch reports to share – including someone who just got one of those “burglary but no Block Watch” flyers – read on:
Two, from AnnaLisa:
(Last) night at 5:00pm on California Ave between SW Raymond & SW Juneau. My purse was stolen out of my (unlocked) car while parked in a private parking area accessible only via an alley way (between California & 41st). I was inside for no more than 5-10 minutes to pick up my toddler & infant. In that time, the purse (and no other belongings) were snatched. It obviously happened very fast — and it was still light out, there is a row of condos overlooking the lot, and other parents usually pull in around the same time. Pretty brazen. I admit to being irresponsible in not only leaving the car unlocked, but also leaving my purse in the car. It was buried under a couple bags of groceries on the passenger seat. While am kicking myself for being an idiot, I wanted to alert others in the neighborhood to be on the lookout for a car prowler(s).
2) I was recently alerted to another break-in on our block within the past week or so, on SW Rose St between 35th & 37th. I don’t have many details but heard from a neighbor that the burglar(s) climbed in through a doggy door in the back, and stole numerous electronics. They are brand new to the neighborhood too. The neighbor across the street had his home broken into a little over a month ago as well. We received a flyer in the mail today alerting us that a 2nd burglary has occured on our street.
And this one from Sarah:
I wanted to report that there was a car prowl in my neighborhood (36th and Charlestown) at 5am on Sunday morning. Someone saw three people, two men and a woman in a silver car breaking into my neighbors car. They called the police but the theives were spooked by something and ran off without taking anything. They did however drill the lock out of one of the doors.
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