By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

The Alki Community Council heard the same Seattle Police stats on Thursday night as two other neighborhood groups earlier in the week – but unlike the other two groups, they got a delegation of five SPD employees. But crime/safety was only one of the meeting’s many topics.

ACC SURVEY: As noted here, the group circulated an online survey for Alki residents earlier in the week “to find out what’s important to neighbors,” said ACC president Charlotte Starck, who reported 173 responses had come in over three days. The “high-level snapshot” of those replies included love for Alki’s natural beauty and concern about encampments/RVs (particularly residents in the east Alki area) as well as the lack of a community center. Starck talked about frequently fielding questions about why city-owned Alki Bathhouse is “so often empty.” (Alki Community Center, meantime, was converted to a child-care-only facility years ago and is currently closed even for that purpose because of the school construction next door.)

Regarding the open-ended final question on the survey, requesting a message for the mayor, the #1 theme “consistent, visible public-safety enforcement “so Alki feels safe day and night.” Also, “traffic speed, reckless driving, vehicle noise” comprise a problem for which survey respondents said they would like to see enforcement. (A question came up, does the Traffic Unit even exist? Brown confirmed – “yes, it does.” We’d add that you can hear them radioing in from enforcement spots including Admiral Way, West Marginal, 35th SW, and other places. Listen for call signs that start with “T,” though regular-duty officers can sometimes be heard too.)

Summed up, the ACC hopes to “work collaboratively to keep Alki safe, welcoming, and vibrant.” Now, on to those stats:

POLICE: Seattle Police had four uniformed officers at the meeting (three of whom said they hadn’t been to meetings before, including one who said he’d been on the force a year and at the Southwest Precinct just a few wweeks) plus interim Crime Prevention Coordinator Matt Brown (his position is a civilian job). Brown brought the same precinct-wide data presented at Tuesday’s Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting (WSB coverage here) and Fauntleroy Community Association meeting (WSB coverage here), saying total reported crime in West Seattle/South Park last year was down 19 percent. For Alki specifically, reported crime in 2025 was down 10 percent, 177 reported crimes, down from 200 – mostly property crime – both reports taken in person or filed online/by phone. Brown explained, “Any way that you report allows us to (include it in the data) and that enables us to ask for resources … your reports show us what you need.” One attendee said people are tired of reporting if they feel they’re not going to get a response; Brown said he regrets that, but begs people, please report it so they can get the resources. Even if you’re not sure – like maybe, maybe not shots fired – call in and report it. As we’ve reported before, Brown confirmed the non-emergency line does get answered part of the time now.

Why can’t you just set up an email account for minor reports? one attendee asked. That would be something to request from the city, Brown said. ‘

Then he went back to another crime category, noting 91 shots-fired calls confirmed in the precinct jurisdiction last year, and that’s down. But – this was information we hadn’t heard previously – the number of casings per incident is going up – 4 to 5 in 2023, last year about double that. Alki had 10 shots-fired incidents last year, no injuries, no deaths. Twice as much as a year earlier, though, with the highest amount in August. Working with Park Rangers to close off areas (like Don Armeni Boat Ramp) seemed to help, and they plan to do it again this year, Brown said.

Brown also talked about encampments and Mayor Wilson’s recent decision to put a Ballard cleanup on hold. The Unified Care Team will continue to work, evaluating and responding to encampments, though (as the mayor’s office told us earlier in the day). He also briefly addressed the drug-use policy misinterpretation that erupted recently (“nothing changed with the policy” is the true bottom line, he said). Has ICE been seen in the Alki area? one attendee asked. Short answer: No confirmed sightings.

TRANSITION TEAM MEMBER: South Seattle College student Russell McQuarrie-Means, a member of Mayor Katie Wilson‘s 60-person transition team (and featured here a year ago), said he wasn’t present to be a spokesperson for the mayor but to be an advocate “for all of you.” Starck asked McQuarrie-Means what youth are concerned about, since his official role on the team is as a student/youth adviser. He said they’re worried about ICE and about affordability, to mention two, declaring that this city is unaffordable for his generation,.

EMERGENCY HUBS: Another guest appearance was by Cindi Barker, a longtime volunteer with the Seattle Emergency Communication Hubs. The what? you ask. That was her point: “Did you know you have a disaster gathering place here on Alki?” In case of catastrophe, neighborhoods need to fend for themselves, at least for a while – as Barker pointed out, “there are 800,000 of us (residents), but only 204 firefighters on duty at any given time” – so it’ll be neighbors helping neighbors if disaster strikes. Know where your hub is and how you’d help. West Seattle and South Park have 15 hubs right now. “Why do I not know this?” asked one woman. “Because we’re not part of the city, don’t have a budget, etc.,” Barker replied. She explained simply how the hubs will help collect info post-disaster, so people can come to them and find out what’s going on if regular communication channels are disrupted – information circulation will be done with the help of amateur=radio operators in some cases. They’ll be able to communicate hub to hub, neighborhood to neighborhood, with white boards of info available. Find out more, including hub locations, by going here.

GIVEAWAYS AT POLAR BEAR SWIM: Vice president Zak Nyberg talked about the emergency blankets ACC gave away at the beach on New Year’s Day (see one in our coverage). Starck said next year they want to budget to give out even more.

ALKI HOLIDAY LIGHTS: Nyberg also recapped the biggest-yet holiday event held the weekend before Christmas – carolers, Santa, a DJ, drinks, food, and the Christmas Ship. “It was a really great event!” As shown in our coverage, there was a “wish wall,” and that was brought to this meeting so the wishes could be shared with attendees. The wishes were heartfelt “wonderful messages,” Starck daid.

NEW BANNERS: As first shown here Wednesday, new flags (banners) are up along Alki – “to bring back vitality and neighborhood identity, to celebrate the beauty of the place,” Starck said.

40 YEARS OF ACC: 2025 marked the 40th anniversary of the ACC. Starck said that pages on the ACC website celebrate and detail their history – look at the accomplishments page, for one.

STATUE OF LIBERTY PLAZA MAINTENANCE: For more than a decade and a half, the ACC has overseen the plaza’s basic maintenance contract with Seattle Parks, based on excess funds from the plaza’s publicly funded creation. Starck said there’s maybe eight years worth of funding left and it’s time to start talking about how to keep that going.

COMMUNITY GARDEN: Attendee Gretchen talked about the Beyers Bulldog Community Garden P-Patch in South Alki, featured here last year, saying volunteers want more people to get involved. They’ve received a Small Sparks city grant for some improvements – they’re having a meeting at 11 am January 24. (The P-Patch is at 54th/Edmunds.)

NEXT MEETING: The ACC usually meets on third Thursdays, 7 pm at Alki UCC (6115 SW Hinds), so February 19th is up next.