Once a target of crime, Pigeon Point’s signpost now fights it

| Pigeon Point | West Seattle news

Remember the saga of the Pigeon Point sign – first poking fun at a road closure, then cut down and stolen, then having its frame replaced? Now, Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council co-chair Jim Sander has created a new two-sided sign – to urge participation in Blockwatch. You can figure out the first photo; in the second one, if you don’t recognize the face, that is local uber-involved Pigeon Point resident (and former PPNC chair) Pete Spalding. Speaking of Blockwatch, dare we remind you again that tonight is the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council‘s monthly meeting, 7 pm, Southwest Precinct, which is also where the West Seattle Blockwatch Captains’ Network will have its second meeting one week from tonight – Tuesday, May 25, 6:30 pm (here’s the Facebook invite).

Dale May 18, 2010 (3:05 pm)

Pigeon Point Needs You.

I luv this!

jwws May 18, 2010 (3:21 pm)

Oh, I thought they needed female sheep………;)

Babs May 18, 2010 (5:16 pm)

OK I have neighborhood envy! LOVE these signs, what a vibe. This is “community” at its best and the silly fun, but beautiful cool art signs make my day.

westseattledood May 18, 2010 (6:11 pm)

I have to give a HUGE shout out to Pigeon Point for establishing a Block Watch Coordinator for their Neighborhood Council! That makes two neighborhood councils of which I am aware of so far, who are officially onboard with the Block Watch Revitalization effort and the growth of the Block Watch Captains Network. I could be mistaken, but so far the only other neighborhood council who is making organized efforts in the same direction is the Admiral Neighborhood Council. To both hoods, I say: Way. To. Go.

The mission is this, SW Neighborhood Councils:

To grow Block Watch participation and to find where ALL the current Block Watch Captains are! The Block Watch Captains’ Network is asking each neighborhood council to seek and find a BW Coordinator(s) to begin building the database from which we can actually grow BW participation. It will require each neighborhood coordinating team to sleuth out where they are. The idea here is to divide and conquer the peninsula neighborhoods so that West Seattle can be the leader for the rest of the city. Why bother, you say? Well, there are a number of reasons which I probably can’t enumerate completely here tonight. But you will hear them over and over as we gain momentum, you can count on it. But here are some quick reasons:

The SW Precinct is encouraging us to do this, numero uno. They would like to have the entire peninsula covered in BW’s and I think we all owe it to them to make that effort.

Also, the already understaffed, overworked crime prevention coordinators might get cut out of the city budget. It is entirely possible that this will happen, for realz people, and if it does, we are on our own to take up the slack for coordinating and executing the program. Nuff said about that.

Also, this year the Seattle School District reassignments to local neighborhoods signals an opportunity to do some community building. Neighbors are going to have the opportunities to meet each other in ways they have not for decades. It is the perfect environment and perfect time to expand BW participation along with the new neighborhood-based school communities that are about to form.

Block Watch participation, and now neighborhood school communities will be further enhanced by integrating and growing participation in the Disaster Preparedness Hubs for every neighborhood.

So, you see where I’m going with this my good neighbors? It’s all there to build upon, or it will be in a few months’ time. So, again, I encourage the Neighborhood Councils of Southwest Seattle to begin discussions about Block Watch Coordinators as the community building that is about to bust out all over from the school reassignments begins in the Fall.

Carpe diem! Carpe diem! Carpe diem!

Thanks to all the folks out there who are working as Block Watch Captains for their streets and neighbors. Your volunteer efforts are valued and appreciated by both your neighbors and the Seattle Police Department.

If anyone has questions or queries about any of this, contact the Block Watch Captains’ Network through Facebook or contact Benjamin Kinlow at SW Precinct, or attend the WSCPC meetings.

Thanks everybody!

35this35mph May 18, 2010 (9:42 pm)

What’s the cranky looking unicorn saying?

owen May 18, 2010 (9:57 pm)

Looks to be “Oh, for Pete’s sake…”

Weatherbe May 19, 2010 (1:03 am)

This is fantastic! This should be an example to every neighborhood in the country, hell the world because the police can not be everywhere at once and the people need to come together to protect each other, to protect their way of life. So much crime could be deterred if everyone worked together to secure their neighborhoods, these are not a groups of vigilantes going around asserting their own brand of justice, no. You can tell by the colorful and humorous signs, these are concerned citizens trying to make a difference and it is a wonderful thing to see.