By Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Concerns about safety in and around Westwood Village were the focus of a community forum organized and hosted by the Seattle Police Department.

The meeting was held online last week by Southwest Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator Jennifer Danner, at the request of staff and residents at nearby Daystar Retirement Village (WSB sponsor), but was open to neighbors and the general public (as we previewed here). The agenda included safety trends, suggestions for how to best communicate with neighbors and report issues to SPD effectively, and how to best use the neighborhood Block Watch model.

Danner was joined in the meeting by Southwest Precinct officer Tammy Frame, along with Crime Prevention Coordinator colleagues Sarah Lawson and Katelyn Yep (from SPD’s North Precinct).

Eva Thomas, executive director for Daystar, joined the meeting with a room full of residents of the retirement community, who shared experiences and asked questions from the perspective of living near Westwood Village. Concerns from Daystar residents and staff included trespassers and drug paraphernalia on the property, illegal activity, and disturbances in nearby Roxhill Park and the King County Metro bus stop on Barton St., fireworks, vehicle break-ins and theft from area businesses. Thomas noted that she has worked at Daystar for more than 25 years, and while there have been issues in the past, it has “definitely been worse in recent years.” Another Daystar resident described being “entertained by things I don’t want to see” when looking outside.

A few other participants joined the meeting including Cheryl, who lives at the nearby Longfellow Run condominium complex and has actively worked with Danner to start a new Block Watch group for that community, and Greg, who owns a home near 30th & Barton and rents to tenants here (but currently lives out of state). Cheryl said she is working to recruit more neighbors to join her Block Watch and make an impact, while Greg noted that graffiti and vandalism has been an issue at his property.

Danner described the benefits of an active and engaged neighborhood Block Watch group, and shared a few documents with meeting attendees:

• Block Watch informational sheet (overview)
• Block Watch sign information (how to make signs for your neighborhood)
• Resource list for encampment issues

Danner encouraged neighbors to communicate with each other using whatever channels and platform work best, and to keep communications “consistent and minimal in nature,” focusing on key issues and “not overwhelming each other.”

Regarding how to report issues to SPD, Danner suggested to follow SPD guidelines and to always err on the side of reporting something (versus not reporting it) because SPD is a data-driven department that relies on community input in order to make staffing and operational decisions. If a situation is in-progress, then use 911. If it happened in the past or isn’t an emergency, then use the non-emergency number (206-625-5011) or make a report online.

Additional notes from the meeting:

• Thomas and Danner discussed next-steps as it relates to Daystar, and noted that they would be working together more in the future on Block Watch options. Danner suggested that Daystar should likely be its own Block Watch group, but that it’s important to coordinate with other area Block Watch groups as well. She added that, as noted by Daystar resident Becky and other attendees, having a Block Watch for the entire Westwood area would be challenging due to the “mixed-use” nature of the neighborhood, but that it’s important to communicate. Danner also noted that she had invited the Westwood Village Property Management and Security office to the meeting, but they were unable to attend. Thomas said that many of her residents were formerly Block Watch captains and leaders in their neighborhoods, and are very interested in helping. Danner suggested that it’s ideal to keep Block Watch groups relatively small, to keep things manageable for captains and co-captains, and that an area like Westwood would likely have multiple Block Watch groups, with their own captains and co-captains, “to serve like an old-school phone tree.” Daystar could start a Block Watch group and have multiple captains to help with communication channels, Danner said.
• Thomas and some of the Daystar residents raised particular concerns about the Metro bus stop (on Barton St., next to the facility) and asked Danner what could be done. One resident described the stop as being a “known drug dropoff; every day someone is there who has overdosed” and the metro bus drivers don’t appear to be able to do anything about it, and often those perpetrators wander into the nearby park. Another resident added that it’s especially problematic because that bus stop is a “layover area” with 5-6 buses parked at a time, and riders are required to disembark and wait on the sidewalk, while all of this illegal activity is happening. Danner said that she did invite Metro to attend the meeting, but didn’t hear back. Danner and Frame noted that the bus stops (and each but itself) are under the jurisdiction of  King County Metro transit police, not SPD, but that incoming reports involving the transit system can also be routed to the King County Sheriff’s office. If they can’t respond, then often SPD is able to respond (or the two departments can respond in tandem). Danner encouraged neighbors to call-in issues to King County Metro (206-296-3311) and ask them to respond — she said that although Metro likely already knows that it’s a concerning area, it means a lot to hear from residents.   Frame: bus stops and bus fall under King Co Sheriff jurisdiction (Metro transit security), not SPD, call 911 and it may be routed to King Co Metro transit police, if they can’t respond then SPD can (or as well in tandem).  Metro can be contacted here.
• Danner emphasized that “if you’re seeing something suspicious or criminal in nature, it’s important to report it right away” to help SPD get accurate data to help them (and partners such as Seattle Parks and Metro) to provide the best response. Responses are classified into three tiers:
  • Priority 1: a crime in-progress involving immediate danger such as an assault or active robbery. Danner said that for calls like this, officers drop what they’re doing and respond ASAP, trying to adhere to the national Pri 1 standard response time of less than 7 minutes.
  • Priority 2: a crime in-progress involving property, breaking into a car, stealing something, or walking with stolen property.
  • Priority 3: a crime not in-progress, reported after-the-fact (such as a vehicle that was prowled overnight).
• Thomas said that while she understands the request to report things ASAP, she was involved in a recent incident in which she and a co-worker were at Westwood Village and saw a suspicious person with a large black bag. The bag broke, and a large quantity of perfumes from the Ulta store spilled out, so Thomas and her colleague dialed 911 but didn’t get a response for 45 minutes, and by that time the person had left the Westwood property. Thomas did add that she knows that much of the stolen property was later recovered, but wondered about the effectiveness of calling in the incident. Danner and Frame said that although they aren’t authorized to speak about staffing, it’s no secret that SPD is short on staff. She encouraged residents to keep trying to report, and be patient, noting that the SW Precinct is the smallest of the 5 SPD precincts, and has likely lost staff in recent years.
• A Daystar resident said they were recently walking their dog at about 9 pm, and saw a suspicious person camping in the bushes next to Daystar, and wondering about the priority of that when calling in. Frame said that camping on property would likely be a trespass, and SPD would ask the person to leave. SPD officers said “it’s trickier with parks,” because of prior government decisions that established individual encampments as a low priority for SPD response.
• Danner reminded attendees about the Find It Fix It mobile app, as a great tool for reporting issues to SPD (especially non-urgent after-the-fact issues. Users of the app can include photos and exact locations of issues they find, and various response teams use that data. Frame added that “the more people who report sometime, the more likely it will get fixed.”
• Greg, the former Westwood resident who owns a property near 30th and Barton which he rents out, and has been a repeat target for graffiti and vandalism, said that the issue has become more frustrating because every time it happens, he must respond to notices from the city indicating that the graffiti must be cleaned up ASAP. Danner acknowledged the challenge with this, and with catching vandals in the act.
• Regarding fireworks, which are of particular interest with July 4 coming up: Thomas and Danner agreed that although they’re illegal in Seattle, they obviously get used a lot in neighborhoods near Westwood and particularly near Roxbury Street (much of which is the dividing line for Seattle city limits). Danner said that city parks tend to attract illegal fireworks usage in particular, especially near July 4 and December 31. Thomas said “at Daystar we deal with it every year, and throughout the year.” Danner emphasized that there’s an educational piece, to remind neighbors that fireworks are illegal and why (fire, safety and environmental hazards), but that enforcement is a challenge. Officer Frame added that “catching someone in act of setting off fireworks is very difficult; we get tons of calls, but the trouble is that they’re usually gone” by the time an officer is able to respond. But regardless, Danner encouraged neighbors to report it, particularly in cases such as a large group gathered in a place like a park in which they don’t appear to be planning to leave. “We will respond,” Danner said, “and we encourage you report so that officers can be in area and help deter/prevent.” Danner and Lawson also addressed the frequent confusion between fireworks and gunshots, but encouraged neighbors to call it in. Lawson, who said she used to serve as a 911 operator, added that if you think you hear gunshots and call it in, you can provide the operator with your address (or a nearby address) as well as the general direction from which you heard the shots.