Preventing crime in Admiral: Summit sparks followup plan

March 31, 2010 10:34 am
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 |   Crime | West Seattle news

The Admiral Neighborhood Association‘s Crime Prevention Summit brought more than 50 people into a big circle at Hiawatha Community Center last night – among them, Southwest Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator Benjamin Kinlow, who shared crimefighting tips you’ve heard before, and some you haven’t. One thing we learned: If you’re going away, you can put in a “Request to Watch” (call or visit the precinct) to ask that police keep an eye on your house; Kinlow says they’ll go by each day. As for how best to protect your house, he repeated over and over again, your watchful neighbors are your best weapons – form a Block Watch if you don’t have one already. Also at the meeting, Community Police Team Officers Adonis Topacio (at left, in plainclothes since he’s currently on a temporary stint with the burglary/theft team), Kevin McDaniel and Jill Vanskike (who temporarily handling Officer Topacio’s western West Seattle sectors – map at right). They explained that Community Police Team officers are the ones you call to talk about non-urgent but troubling problems – like nuisance properties, illegal dumping, recurring noise problems. (Their contact info is here.) But if it’s something happening NOW, they stressed – as police do, over and over again – CALL 911. “You guys know your neighborhoods better than anyone, so if it’s suspicious, call it in, there’s no harm in that,” said Officer Topacio. Finally, ANA president Katy Walum announced the summit’s success sparked plans for quarterly meetings of a Safety Committee – first one, June 7th (time/location TBA), with a focus on Block Watch formation and networking.

SIDE NOTE: While police handed out the list of Admiral area crimes we linked here yesterday, they said they weren’t seeing any particular trends in Admiral – but regarding comparison to other neighborhoods, they mentioned a current burglary “pattern” in Highland Park. We’re following up with SPD to find out more.

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