FOLLOWUP: Police presence at Alki; no arrests in Tuesday murder

5:07 PM: While checking out the new speed-limit signs on Harbor, we continued to Alki to look for signs of Seattle Police presence, with another summer-like evening on the way, two nights after 23-year-old Jordan D. Thomas was shot and killed. Here’s what we found:

That’s the Mobile Precinct, which we spotted parked at Marine and Alki. And a short distance east at 57th/Alki, an SPD bus:

SW Precinct commander Capt. Pierre Davis tells WSB that emphasis patroling, through the holiday weekend and “mostly geared toward weekends and warmer days where we’ve seen an uptick in vehicular and pedestrian traffic,” will include “Mobile Precinct visibility, bicycle patrols, and an extra foot beat patrol.”

Meantime, we asked SPD today about the murder investigation. Nothing new to report, Det. Patrick Michaud told us.

10:39 PM: At tonight’s Find It, Fix It Walk, we asked SW Precinct Operations Lt. Ron Smith about the bus. He explains that it’s used to transport the bike squad. Meantime, we drove along Alki about an hour ago. The bus was gone but the Mobile Precinct was still at Marine/Alki, with an SPD SUV a few vehicles west of it.

Seattlite May 25, 2017 (6:46 pm)

The SPD mobile unit and SPD bicyclists need to be on the Alki beat ever day and night during the summer. SPD’s presence is a powerful deterrent to criminal activity. Everyone should be able to enjoy Alki without worrying about criminal activity. SPD don’t forget Lincoln Park.

dsa May 25, 2017 (8:05 pm)

Unfortunately, this looks much better.

Alki resident May 25, 2017 (8:53 pm)

The last day of school is also a problem at Alki.

The Truth May 25, 2017 (9:41 pm)

It’s a couple of days late for the man who was shot and to keep the community from losing it’s feeling of security. I only partially blamed the cops on this. They should have a summer plan in place for Alki and have some sort of flex staffing available for above normal temperatures. That would just be common sense. That being said, city business licenses went from $108 per year to 488-1000k depending on sales volume and businesses where told it was to pay for more police. Well those were paid month ago. Do we have more cops? If so, are we giving them the support and tools needed to handle these sorts of things? Or are we busy slandering the cops and passing reform after reform to make them feel less trusted and unsupported by legislators and the community? I am glad CM Herbold spent time taking police policy and passing it as legislation for no other reason than to score points. Wish the council spent more time crafting real legislation rather than pass feel good BS that is only done to please their base.

East Coast Cynic May 26, 2017 (6:00 am)

Maybe a city income tax, which many “world class” cities have, would spread the burden and actually pay for more cops, in addition to paying for other much needed services and programs.

NotImpressed May 25, 2017 (11:32 pm)

It’s now 11pm, the mobile precinct happened to leave around the same time as the girls in bikinis left, and no doubt the only presence we’ll see is when they squeeze the remaining people from the beach into the bars. Enforce the laws during the day when the police ARE here and people are flagrantly violating the ceuising and idling laws, or don’t bother coming down here. Seattle is a safe city, Alki is not immune to crime, and when the enforcement is inconsistent the rates will go up. Locals avoiding the beach does nothing to maintain a friendly atmosphere. If you live here, being visible and keeping an eye on the goings-on is more helpful than hiding.

WSB May 25, 2017 (11:40 pm)

The “girls in bikinis” were there past 9:40 pm (when my dashboard temp said it was down to 61 degrees)? That’s when we saw the MP still there, as noted above, plus a second police vehicle. They left, per scanner discussion, because officers (including some who had been at Don Armeni) were looking about half an hour ago for somebody who called 911 saying they had been assaulted, but then vanished and weren’t reachable. They searched from Beach Drive back to Don Armeni trying to find the alleged victim.
René May 26, 2017 (8:55 am)

Locals aren’t hiding. We’ve changed our routines to avoid day tripping crowds. Mornings I do my Alki ave loop but afternoons I walk towards Schmidtz overlook on beach drive instead. It’s more enjoyable to walk where it’s more peaceful.
- Youretheproblem May 26, 2017 (9:54 am)
  
  More peaceful, for now…

Steve May 26, 2017 (8:51 am)

I wonder if it is the same shooter who just shot two at the gas lamp park last night. Seattle Times called it uptick? I just wish the mayor would give up his protection detail and put those officers on the street. Instead of wasting time on filming cops and soda tax ordinances, work on hiring far more officers!

Blinkyjoe May 26, 2017 (9:08 am)

Was down there walking the Malecon at 8-9 last night. Beautiful sunset, lots of folks out walking, beach fires, longboards. Great time, so many different cultures represented. It was good to see the mobile units and bike/walk police. I witnessed officers stopped, smiling, interacting with folks. Good to see.

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