Info-packed meeting Thursday night for the South Delridge/White Center Community Safety Coalition, one of West Seattle’s two crime-and-safety-focused groups (the other is the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council). From crime trends in the area (southeast West Seattle plus north White Center) — including a crime police are hoping more victims will report — to what can be done about problem properties, here are the highlights —

CRIME TRENDS:

Officer Adonis Topacio spoke for the Seattle Police-handled side of the area. He says car thefts are “significantly rising” not just there but all over West Seattle; burglaries are down a bit.

In response to a woman’s complaint that her garage was just tagged, Sgt. Jeff Durden said it’s more important than ever to report tagging vandalism – the department is continuing to work on a database linking certain tags to certain offenders, and they need reports to continue building it. Even if you have to call 911, “becaue you want an officer out to take a photo,” Sgt. Durden added.

From the King County side of the line, burglaries are way down, according to Deputy Jeff Hancock: 1 commercial, 1 residential, in the month since the last meeting. Car thefts are NOT down – 8 in that same time. Deputies did investigate a couple unusual cases – a man hit and stabbed with a broken beer bottle after telling a group of people to pick up bottles they’d thrown on the ground; a transient “wielding a samurai sword at the liquor store.”

SPEAKING OF LIQUOR:

Two reps from the State Liquor Control Board were at the meeting, including Lt. Woodrow Perkins (photo), south-end supervisor. They listed some recent successes and future plans:

-Three raids for “illegal gambling devices,” with counterfeit cigarettes and illegal alcohol seized

-A public-drinking joint emphasis ahead for the South Delridge/White Center area, plus after-hours patrols in White Center/Burien

Lt. Perkins urged people with alcohol-related concerns to file complaints – there’s an online form here

PROBLEM PROPERTIES:

During his update earlier in the meeting, SPD Officer Topacio – who works on preventive efforts as part of the Community Police Team — mentioned that a house which long has concerned neighbors, in the 9000 block of 16th SW, has “a potential buyer who may be making a bid on the property” and is eager to make improvements. (This news sent murmurs of approval through the room.)

Later in the meeting, reps from the city and county gave presentations on what can be done about problem properties, and how their respective agencies worked. The group heard from Seattle Department of Planning and Development‘s Diane Davis and King County Department of Development and Environmental Services‘ Al Tijerina:

Their messages were similar:

-If you see a problem, file a complaint. And be specific – don’t just say “there’s junk at a house,” say what the junk is, where on the property it is, will it be difficult for an investigator to get to.

-Understand that it’ll take some time to take action, and that investigators don’t have free rein to go inside a residence if the owner says no.

-Be patient – budget cuts have thinned the ranks. DPD has lost a fifth of its workforce, down to 320 people, and the enforcement section handles 3500 cases a year; for the county, Tijerina noted that 9 enforcers have to handle the entire county.

-Realize they’ve seen some bizarre cases in their day – Davis told the story of someone renting out a “crawl space” that actually had a cable-TV hookup; Tijerina showed photos of a long-rented residence that was full of trash.

To file a complaint about a property in the city, go here; for the county, go here.

OTHER NOTES:

****Youth projects continue, including a mural at the Super 24 store on Delridge and equipment for Samoan fire dancing.

****Hillcrest Presbyterian is planning a “safe night” event for kids on Halloween; a planning meeting for volunteers will be held at the church at 7 pm September 10th.