Mayor, police chief in West Seattle tomorrow to reveal new patrols

If you’re in the Don Armeni vicinity around 3:30 pm tomorrow and see a knot of activity, probably including TV trucks, here’s what it’s about: Mayor McGinn, Seattle Police Chief John Diaz, and other SPD leadership (among others) will be discussing a new plan for “citywide late-night public safety emphasis patrols.” The media invitation that arrived minutes ago describes this as: “City will promote uniformed police visibility in areas with high concentration of people enjoying Friday and Saturday nightlife opportunities.” What does that specifically mean for West Seattle? We’ll have details as soon as that’s available. (This time last year, the mayor and police chief announced these types of patrols for several non-WS neighborhoods.)

Huh? June 5, 2011 (7:51 pm)

Oh boy! Hardy will be in town without Laurel. What’s a girl to do?! Can’t the police chief make “the reveal”? So, much more respect for Diaz than ol’ what his name
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Huh? June 5, 2011 (7:54 pm)

P.S. I hope this means foot patrol officers are coming back! Would be nice not only to see the guys walking “the beat” on F & S nights, but during the day. What better way to connect than to actually connect. Right now, you don’t get so much as a wave as they drive by in their patrol car. Polly Anna maybe, but…

brn2bm June 5, 2011 (8:40 pm)

Sounds like they’re getting ready for the traditional alcohol and testosterone festival on Alki this summer. Anybody else think there’s going to be a shooting down there in the next 90 days?

KRM June 5, 2011 (10:00 pm)

Brn2bm – I was thinking the same thing.

Mike June 5, 2011 (10:06 pm)

Diaz is doing a great thing if we see more SPD patrols on Fri and Sat in and around Alki. Maybe my family will enjoy some summer time at Alki this year.

Michael June 5, 2011 (10:22 pm)

What does that mean for West Seattle? Fewer cops here because they’ll all be protecting the more affluent drunks in Belltown and Pioneer Square.
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Since any problems in Alki aren’t due to “high concentration of people enjoying Friday and Saturday nightlife opportunities,” expect little help here.
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The puzzler: why this conference would be held at the Don Armeni boat ramp, which is one of the least concentrated areas in Seattle at night. Another puzzler from the Mayor…

jumpforjoy June 5, 2011 (10:27 pm)

These two together are a joke. He isn’t the police chief he’s nothing more than a politician in McGinn’s pocket.

doc June 5, 2011 (10:32 pm)

My bet is 60 days, or your money back!

WSB June 5, 2011 (10:43 pm)

It’s been more than two years since the last shooting at the beach, for the record (which came at the start of the season – May 1, 2009 – and led to fears of a violent summer, which did not materialize).
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https://westseattleblog.com/2009/05/police-investigation-on-alki-shooting-reported
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Are you seeing something that makes you believe this year will be different from shooting (etc.)-free 2010?
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P.S. – To Michael re: “why Don Armeni?” – that one seemed obvious to me. The cityscape backdrop for TV, and that then allows an additional nod to “here in West Seattle, just up the road at Alki Beach …” And for further analysis from your TV-veteran editor, 3:30 pm means that soundbites from the mayor/police chief are likely to be on the 5 pm news because crews won’t have time to go out and get the “person on street” reaction that will likely replace the “official” soundbites in the nightside version. BUT it’s late enough in the day that TV can send their “nightside” reporters/photographers, who usually start at 2:30/3 pm, and won’t have to burn a dayside crew plus a separate nightsider for a followup. More than you wanted to know, I’m sure. – TR

Jiggers June 6, 2011 (1:13 am)

Honestly, I think Diaz is a joke!

brn2bm June 6, 2011 (6:45 am)

My prediction of a shooting is just a guess. It’s the report on traffic congestion on Harbor Ave. and the reminder that warm days on Alki seems to bring in some sketchy characters. More people jammed into a finite space and characters who believe that a gun is necessary for personal protection. Even with the best policing, we end up with boys on the beach with cowboy or gangster fantasies. You can only hope that the gun goes off when it’s still in their pants.

Bill June 6, 2011 (7:34 am)

Too bad the police chief and the news media were not here on Duwamish Head at 2-3am to witness what we residents did.
What a zoo!!

WSB June 6, 2011 (7:54 am)

Bill – call (or text) us next time, we answer 24/7. 206-293-6302. Haven’t heard of anything big overnight. The 911 call map shows three “parks exclusions” and a parking violation – what did you see? – TR

P-star June 6, 2011 (7:48 am)

*In Beavis & Butthead voice*

“Hehehe…the article mentioned SPD leadership and Diaz in the same sentence…hehehe.”

WJP June 6, 2011 (9:03 am)

I think the incident that Bill is referring to happened Sunday morning between 2:30 and 3:00 am. Two cars were drag racing back and forth by Luna Park. I called 911 because one of the cars was side ways in the street, and the other car was near by with an unbeliveble amout of smoke pouring out of it. There are several skid marks on the street. The 911 dispatcher just asked if I wanted to speak to an officer. I know the police can’t be every where all the time, but we have lived here for 8 years and have seen two cars fly off into the water, resulting in 2 deaths.

WSB June 6, 2011 (9:25 am)

Thanks. The deadly car-flying incident was before we started covering news (though we linked here to citywide media’s reports) but we were there that night/early morning covering the Porsche incident…
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https://westseattleblog.com/2009/05/happening-now-car-in-the-water-off-harbor-ave

Bill June 6, 2011 (11:25 am)

TR, I will give you a ring next time, probably this sat night if the weather is good. 911 told me the car racing, and a big party had already been reported. Yes, the tire smoke was unreal, looked like a battle scene. The group of wannabe gangsters (six guys, 3 girls, 3 cars) were hanging out b/4 and after the racing incident. I did yell at them to be quiet, and believe it or not, they showed no signs of recognition, but they did quiet down. They left about 15 minutes after the squad cars rolled through.

park jogging man June 6, 2011 (3:12 pm)

Shocking. My post about what a increased SPD presence means to me as a latino this morning somehow hasn’t been published. I guess calling the police out on their racism isn’t welcome here.

WSB June 6, 2011 (4:16 pm)

PJM, we actually have tougher standards against racism/sexism/sizism/any form of bias (based on traits with which people are born) in this comment section than any news site you can find. It’s not welcome, period, no matter who the target is. Regarding a comment not being approved: In this case, our filter caught your comment because of crude language. We don’t publish crude language. And we don’t edit it, either – comments go either all or nothing. Sorry.

park jogging man June 7, 2011 (11:44 am)

Must be hard to discuss controversial topics when you can’t even quote what the police are saying. If you think it’s too outrageous to use their quote on you message board, how do you think the people on the other end of the comment feel that there’s going to be a increased amount of these racist police patrolling the neighborhoods?

I’ve got to say Im not very impressed that a local news outlet won’t even allow quoting of public figures. It seems akin to trying to report on breast cancer but not being able to use the word ‘breast’ – but I have a feeling that word’s going to get past the filter fine.

Sorry, comment time is over.