West Seattle, Washington
03 Sunday
The questions come up often in story comments here on WSB – why don’t you see Seattle Police Traffic Enforcement officers at certain trouble spots? Why do you see them at certain spots some consider to be “speed traps”? How can you get them assigned to enforcement where you believe they’re needed? Those are just a few. Next Tuesday (May 16th), you can bring those questions directly to the commander of the traffic unit, Capt. Eric Sano, who is the scheduled guest at the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting. The monthly WSCPC meeting is also where you can bring local crime questions/concerns to Southwest Precinct leadership, and hear the latest on crime trends. The meeting’s at 7 pm Tuesday in the meeting room just off the precinct parking lot, 2300 SW Webster.
Despite the overnight gunfire spree hours earlier, turnout was low at last night’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting, so we recorded highlights on video. Above is what precinct commander Capt. Pierre Davis told attendees; below, special guest Officer James Ritter, talking about the SPD Safe Place program, which has now been adopted by more than 50 cities across the country.
Toplines: Capt. Davis said a multi-city/multi-agency task force is working on the gunfire situation, which has seen recent incidents in South Park as well as West Seattle (SP also is part of the SW Precinct’s jurisdiction). None of the WS incidents have resulted in injuries – so far; the precinct is working with special teams including the Gang Unit and SWAT and trying to get more officers out on patrol to try to get ahead of the problem. They are working to identify potential suspects who might be from out of the area – he mentioned Kent, Renton, Federal Way – but spending time with family in this area.
Also, as he has mentioned at other recent community meetings including the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce lunch last week (WSB coverage here), Capt. Davis said shoplifting is spiking and the Community Police Team is working with business owners (and, when necessary, contacting out-of-town corporate ownership) to help them prevent it.
And yes, they’re gearing up for the warm-weather crowds at Alki and elsewhere.
One more bit of news: Southwest/South Precinct Liaison city attorney Matthew York is leaving that job after almost three years – he’s just been appointed to an open judge position in King County District Court’s southeast division.
P.S. As mentioned again in today’s preview, if you’re on-peninsula and interested in talking with/hearing from police, you’re welcome at West Seattle’s first Coffee with a Cop event at the Junction Starbucks (SE corner of California/Alaska), 1-2:30 pm.
(From left, Southwest Precinct Lt. Ron Smith, Capt. Pierre Davis, and West Seattle Crime Prevention Council president Richard Miller)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
For those interested in more alerts about repeat offenders (like the ones we wrote about last weekend) – police might soon be sharing that kind of information publicly.
That was one revelation from last night’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting, along with a guest presentation about what to do in case of an “active shooter” situation.
More than 25 people were at the WSCPC’s monthly meeting at the Southwest Precinct, including two groups of neighbors from areas of North Delridge and Puget Ridge. Here’s how it unfolded:
CRIME TRENDS: “We’ve arrested a significant amount of people out there,” began precinct commander Capt. Pierre Davis. Much of the property crime is linked to drug use, he noted, because users need to get money and “just don’t care.” So “don’t leave valuables in your car,” he reminded people. That would “help us out” in terms of discouraging criminals.
(Moments before we published this report, two flyers with related SPD crime-prevention advice came in:
Car-prowl prevention advice is here; auto-theft prevention advice is here.)
And make sure your valuables are identifiable, in case they are stolen (by burglary, for example). He mentioned repeat offenders, saying “we’re ready to start putting their faces out to the general public … so you guys can see exactly what these individuals are up to and what they look like … they don’t like it, they’ve told us they don’t like it … we’re going to ramp it up.” Read More
Toplines from last night’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting: The Southwest Precinct has new bicycle officers who, among other things, are tasked with patroling for car prowlers. That’s still the biggest crime problem in our area, so the precinct is hopeful this is a new way of making a dent in it.
As always, the heart of the meeting was the opportunity for attendees to discuss neighborhood crime/safety concerns. Most of the three dozen or so attendees were there because of concerns related to last Thursday’s stabbing (WSB coverage here) at a house in the 6700 block of 18th SW on Puget Ridge.
(WSB photo, last Thursday)
The suspect is still at large, confirmed precinct commander Capt. Pierre Davis, and the investigation continues. Some attendees who identified themselves as parents and PTA members at nearby Sanislo Elementary wanted to know why the school hadn’t been in lockdown while police were searching that afternoon. Capt. Davis said he and Operations Lt. Ron Smith would see what they could find out about how that decision was made.
Others pointed out that this wasn’t the first trouble at the house in question, reminding police that it had been brought up at a Crime Prevention Council meeting about a year and a half ago. Taking action against “nuisance houses” is not a fast process, Lt. Smith noted, saying the precinct is aware this is a trouble spot. Community Police Team Officer Jon Flores will be out to talk to neighbors, he promised, to figure out what steps can be taken next.
The scheduled guest for the meeting, scheduled to talk about “active shooter” situations, was a no-show. So that made extra time for the community-concerns discussion. Next WSCPC meeting is set for February 21st, 7 pm, at the precinct (2300 SW Webster).
Just in from Richard Miller, president of the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council – the plan for its meeting next Tuesday (7 pm, January 17th):
As always, Southwest Precinct police will be there with updates on local crime trends and the chance for you to ask about/bring up neighborhood concerns. And a special guest has just been confirmed: SPD Officer Edward Anderson, a Firearms and Tactics instructor who “will lead an interactive active-shooter-mitigation presentation.” This will be the shorter version of the presentation, about an hour including 15 minutes for questions, shorter than the full version, but worth your time to come hear from an expert. All are welcome at the meeting, which is in the community room at the precinct (2300 SW Webster), right off the parking lot.
Most months, the third Tuesday brings the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting, an opportunity to bring neighborhood concerns to local police, to get updates on local crime trends, and to hear from a guest speaker on a crime-related issue. Not this month, though – WSCPC president Richard Miller has canceled tomorrow’s meeting while recovering from an injury. The group doesn’t usually meet in December, so that means the next scheduled meeting is Tuesday, January 17th.
From last night’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting:
(Past week of reported car prowls, from SPD police-report map)
SOUTHWEST PRECINCT UPDATE: Car prowls remain “the crime of the day,” and “we attribute it to the drug use that’s out there,” began Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Pierre Davis. A resident of an apartment building north of Morgan Junction said that they’ve had two car prowls in the past month and have found needles in the alley – “what are we supposed to do?” A discussion ensued about whether, if spotting a car prowl in progress, residents should try to detain the prowler themselves. With the caveat that “we’re not your lawyer,” the general advice was no – “you never know who you’re dealing with,” Capt. Davis observed.
Another attendee said her area of Puget Ridge has been hit “19 times in two weeks,” including bicycle thefts, emergency kits stolen from porches. But she said most probably hadn’t been reported.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Toplines from last night’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting at the Southwest Precinct, first one since June:
Two West Seattle Crime Watch notes tonight:
ATTEMPTED GARAGE BURGLARIES: From Darren, who lives in an Alki townhome complex near 60th and Admiral: “Last night someone attempted to break into 3 of our neighbors’ garages (after 7 pm, as one of our neighbors didn’t notice damage to his garage when he was taking garbage and recycling out to the curb). They didn’t get in but did some damage to the doors. Our neighbor who reported it to the police isn’t able to open her garage now as the damage affected the sensor.” SPD case number is 16-339756.
CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL TOMORROW: One last mention before the Tuesday highlight list – the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council returns from summer hiatus tomorrow night. 7 pm Tuesday at the Southwest Precinct (2300 SW Webster), bring your neighborhood concerns to local police, and hear from them about local crime trends. Plus, this month’s special guest is Lisa Love, manager of Health Education for Seattle Public Schools, who WSCPC president Richard Miller says will “discuss the topic of harassment, intimidation and bullying in our schools.”
More West Seattle Crime Watch notes this afternoon:
STOLEN CAR: Morgan‘s car was stolen last night or early today – “My car was stolen from my driveway (corner of 108th and 37th Ave SW [map]): 2016 Honda Fit, Cobra Drivers seat (says COBRA on the headrest) and license-frame bracket that says Seahawks Season ticket holder. WA plates — AYZ9219.” Call 911 if you see it.
STOLEN PACKAGE: In a comment following today’s first Crime Watch report, Chelsea reported a package theft near California and Dakota [map] and included this link to images from a security camera.
CRIME-PREVENTION ADVICE: The Southwest Precinct e-mailed two “bulletins” today with general advice on what you can do to prevent/reduce burglaries and car prowls – read them as PDFs here (burglaries) and here (car prowls).
NEXT WEST SEATTLE CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL MEETING: WSCPC meetings resume this month – they are your chance to come hear about crime trends from, bring neighborhood concerns to, and ask questions of, Southwest Precinct reps, as well as special guests. WSCPC president Richard Miller tells WSB that the 7 pm meeting next Tuesday (September 20th) will feature “Lisa Love, manager, Health Education, Seattle Public Schools, to discuss the topic of harassment, intimidation, and bullying in our schools.” The meeting is at the precinct (2300 SW Webster).
From last night’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting at the Southwest Precinct, last one until September:
CAPTAIN’S BRIEFING: Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Pierre Davis opened with the declaration that a “grandiose state of car prowling is happening in our neck of the woods” – The Junction, Highland Park, and South Park are the hardest-hit spots right now. He implored people to PLEASE not leave ANYTHING in their cars – if thieves stop scoring stuff, they’ll stop trying. “We don’t want to make it lucrative for these guys to keep doing what they’re doing.” Without naming names, he mentioned that some prolific suspects have been caught. “We want to keep the pressure up throughout the whole summer.”
He said the shots-fired issues are under scrutiny as well. “Some of them have a nexus toward certain houses, or friends that they visit … these guys are riding cars, coming from (different areas, north to east to south) … if you hear it, make sure you call it in, so we can get the appropriate types of response out there.” Arrests tend to “make a lot of that activity go away,” he said. “Timely and accurate reporting is the key to a lot of this stuff … sometimes we don’t get the information until maybe the next day, which is not good enough … it’s a lot harder than … right when that stuff is happening. Load 911 up so they can get all that good information out to our officers.” He said that things in Puget Ridge/Pigeon Point had quieted down – traffic-wise as well – after emphasis patrols. One PR resident verified that. Capt. Davis said that with the 4th of July approaching, there’ll be some fireworks/gunshots confusing, but still call it in. “Sometimes we get there and it is fireworks … sometimes we get there and we find shell casings … exercise due diligence, make that 911 call.”
Next topic, burglaries: Read More
(WSB photo from last month, police searching for shell casings after Puget Ridge gunfire)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Frustrated Puget Ridge residents came to the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting tonight to ask Southwest Precinct police what they’re doing about the gunfire problem plaguing their neighborhood.
First – the monthly crime-trends briefing:
“Our criminal element is alive and kickin’,” as is unfortunately usual in the warmer months, began Capt. Pierre Davis, Southwest Precinct commander. “Right now, the crime du jour is car prowls, up all over the city, and our regional partners are having the same type of issues.” In some areas, it’s doubled. Highland Park, Morgan Junction are getting the biggest increases right now.
He mentioned a spike in drug use, “and a lot of that activity is driving the car-prowl increase right now.”
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Gunfire was the first thing our area’s top law enforcer brought up as tonight’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting began.
CRIME TRENDS: Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Pierre Davis opened the meeting with his crime-trends briefing, as usual. “As of lately, there’s been a lot of shots-fired incidents, there’s reasons behind it … it is alarming,” and community members “are quite tired, and I don’t blame them one bit.”
Once shots are reported, “we do take them very seriously, our officers go out and investigate … if there’s physical evidence that can be confiscated and taken to a lab, we do that .. there’s a whole unit that does that to see if there’s a nexus between different areas of the city (and other cities). … There’s shots-fired evidence we can link to various crimes throughout the area.” According to Capt. Davis, gangs and drugs are what’s most often involved “and we’re quickly putting together the pieces as to who’s who.”
He mentioned one particular trouble spot – a mile-plus of 16th SW, from the 6900 through 9000 block. South Park (which also is served by the SW Precinct) is being plagued by gunfire incidents, too, and so, he said, patrols have been stepped up, even including SWAT officers and the Anti-Crime Team. But they can’t patrol around the clock, he warned: “Obviously these individuals are smart enough to know if you’re shooting when police are around, you’re probably going to get caught … I wish I had enough officers to have out there 24/7 but that’s not the case.”
A resident of 21st SW in Puget Ridge spoke up at this point to say she had heard gunshots for three nights.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Car prowls are still “the issue of the day” for West Seattle crime, Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Pierre Davis told the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council last night.
His regular briefing was one of two focuses at the meeting – the other one was pedestrian/traffic safety. More on that later in the story, but first, the crime briefing:
Hotspots right now include Westwood and south Highland Park, as well as South Park, and on a citywide basis, this category of crimes was set to be the focus of SPD’s twice-monthly Seastat meeting today.
Capt. Davis also reiterated the importance of reporting those crimes in particular, even if nothing was taken, so they have accurate records – SPD is pointing citizens at its Dashboard to check community-crime stats, but those stats won’t be accurate if people don’t report them.
And he mentioned what we had reported here earlier in the evening – two arrests following two robberies earlier in the day, targeting students. The suspects were arrested near 9th and Henderson in Highland Park, though the robberies happened elsewhere; items stolen from the victims were recovered, he said.
Also discussed: Shots-fired calls. “We are pretty aware of who we’re looking at,” Capt. Davis said, while stressing that doesn’t guarantee arrests – evidence and timing play into it, too. When an attendee asked for more info, he elaborated, “We have a group of individuals out there that are gang affiliated and when they find a target, they want to shoot at that target – we found a nexus between what’s happening in West Seattle and what’s happening in SE Seattle, in Rainier Valley, we have two groups that are going at it. … Usually when you have a spike in that kind of activity, there’s something behind it.”
So is there anything that can be done besides reporting it? asked the attendee.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Crime trends and an update on the Alert Seattle system were the focus points of last night’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting:
The dozen-ish people who showed up were from neighborhoods north to south, Admiral to Puget Ridge to Morgan Junction.
Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Pierre Davis told participants that more than a dozen neighborhoods in West Seattle have “micro-policing plans,” and they’re developing “targeted responses” to the issues.
In general, around West Seattle, auto thefts, robberies, and car prowls are the high-focus issues right now, he said.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
The first West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting of the year drew one of its biggest recent turnouts, ~30 people. Here’s how it unfolded, from a briefing and Q/A with West Seattle’s police commander, to an insurance-industry expert’s inside information on car prowl/theft tactics:
CAPTAIN’S BRIEFING: Southwest Precinct Capt. Pierre Davis began Tuesday night’s meeting by thanking citizens for staying alert and calling 911. He mentioned the micro-community policing plans for 12 neighborhoods, while assuring people outside those areas that it doesn’t mean they get less policing resources.
As for the trends:
*Car prowls remain big, as does retail theft (shoplifting).” Also, “We’re still having street robberies,” but often there’s a relationship of some kind between robber and victim, “not so much individuals coming out there just to get (random) individuals.” He pointed out that numbers are available via the SPD Dashboard, saying it’s a “real-time” stat system.
Hot spots right now: High Point and North Delridge – “assaults, lots of gunfire, things of that nature, we’re on that as well … trying to determine what the true issues are, and sometimes they have nothing to do with West Seattle – these guys are migratory, they have cars … only thing we can do is make arrests, identify who we can identify.” He said the precinct is getting more resources, not just in house but from outside including SWAT teams, Gang Unit, etc.
Three notes in West Seattle Crime Watch tonight:
CAR PROWLS: Two notes at midday today briefly mentioned car prowls along Beach Drive – one near Me-Kwa-Mooks Park, one in the 5900 block of Beach Drive, both involving windows that appeared to have broken in.
WHAT METHODS ARE CAR PROWLERS/THIEVES USING? Next Tuesday’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting will include a guest from the National Insurance Crime Bureau to talk about the latest methods used to get into cars, as well as “which vehicles are the most and least likely to be stolen,” according to WSCPC president Richard Miller. The meeting is at 7 pm Tuesday, January 19th, at the Southwest Precinct (2300 SW Webster).
VANDALISM: From the Stop ‘N Shop store at the Senior Center of West Seattle in The Junction:
On December 30th, the Stop ‘N Shop sold a Pennsylvania House bedroom set for $1,500. The buyer arranged to pick the set up on January 6th. When they came to pick up the furniture, we took off the protective sheets only to discover that someone had scratched / keyed the surfaces of several pieces in the set. I believe the act of vandalism occurred (in the store) on Wednesday, January 6th, 2016. We don’t understand why someone would behave in such a manner. What we do know, is that the loss of income from this kind of crime only hurts low-income seniors who we are trying to help.
The buyer did end up accepting the damaged furniture anyway, the store notes. If you have any info, contact police.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
The GameStop robbery was happening just as this month’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting was wrapping up. So keep in mind that Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Pierre Davis was speaking about trends before that – almost presciently. His briefing preceded the night’s guest speaker, Metro’s chief of Transit Police.
LOCAL CRIME TRENDS: Busy month since last meeting. Headline – the arrest of a suspect in the serial arsons, which were Topic 1 at the previous WSCPC meeting. Robberies are up – “the individuals are like zombies, they activate themselves and they’re committing everything under the sun, car prowls, robberies …” In particular, he mentioned, car prowls are up “and I know (West Seattleites) are sick of it.” He reiterated the top advice – don’t leave ANYTHING in your vehicle. Nothing at all. “I just can’t stress enough – take (your stuff) with you.” Every time something is found inside a car, that encourages thieves to come back. Alki, High Point, North Admiral, and Pigeon Point are the hottest spots for car prowls right now: “The numbers right now aren’t horrific, but they’re horrific enough that people are being affected.” Parks get hit hard, too.
The briefing segued quickly into attendee Q/A: First one was a question about the neighborhood crime stats on the SPD website, wondering why they all use different scales, meaning that if you compare areas, one might look worse than it really is. Capt. Davis said they’re aware of that and hoping to find a way to work with it.
Next Q brought up the West Seattle Crime Watch saga of someone who put their stuff in the trunk and was prowled while shopping at Westwood Target. Capt. Davis acknowledged that some car prowlers do just break in on spec, basically. “It is really, really tough right now and about all we can do is something like an operation we did earlier this year – we identified more than 100 individuals that we deal with over and over again, and arrested a lot of the individuals who are prolific in this area. When we (did that) we saw every category of crime drop. .. But as soon as they get out of jail, we see that activity spike up again.” Now, he said, they’re working with prosecutors and judges to try to urge them to keep the criminals behind bars – and for longer. “That’s what we’re after right now – sometimes it takes time, but it’s well worth it.”
Asked about car thefts, he talked about use of the license-plate reader to detect dropped-off stolen cars.
Two people who identified themselves as first-time WSCPC meeting-goers said that they had just moved to West Seattle a few weeks ago and were trying to figure out how to stay safe and wondered if there was any reason that repeat offenders’ mugshots weren’t made available.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
No arrests yet in the West Seattle arsons.
But new information did emerge at tonight’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting.
Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Pierre Davis said that in addition to the two major early-morning arsons Sunday and Monday – the two cars in Sylvan Ridge and the High Point office building – investigators are also looking at three earlier small fires.
Those date back to a trash can fire outside a vacant house on 34th near Morgan (photo above) on October 12th (but the list they’re focusing on does NOT include the “campfire” outside the former Red Star Pizza).
He also said that SPD and other agencies – including ATF investigators – are devoting a major amount of resources to solving this. And he distributed the arson alert that we published here last night after residents reported getting it via door-to-door visits from firefighters.
Aside from the high-profile arson investigation, the major crime categories “have taken a slight dip” lately, he added, particularly robberies, which he noted have dropped almost to zero since the arrest of “an individual who got picked up in one of our other precincts.” And he mentioned again that the precinct has a watch list of more than 80 repeat offenders, about 20 of whom have been arrested. Working with the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office to be sure they stay in jail once arrested, though, is a challenge, he acknowledged.
The one specific category for which he offered numbers, burglary, is at 387 year-to-date, compared to 418 in the same period last year.
And then – seguing into “neighborhood concerns” – came the case of one specific burglary attempt that had happened just hours before.
Whether it’s the arsons or some other concern that you’d like to ask and/or hear about, we’ve just confirmed that the monthly West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting IS on for tomorrow night (Tuesday, October 20th) at the Southwest Precinct, 7 pm. This is your one guaranteed chance each month to hear local crime trends firsthand from West Seattle police and to bring up anything that’s been going on in your neighborhood. The meeting room is next to the parking lot, which is off SW Webster just west of Delridge Way SW.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Crime trends and self-protection were on the agenda as the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council returned from summer break.
Last night’s meeting started with Southwest Precinct Captain Pierre Davis briefing those in attendance. “The summer was … the summer. In West Seattle, it’s typical for us to have a riproaring summer, but it wasn’t out of control.” He talked about the importance of the recently developed “microcommunity” policing plans, and the importance of feedback on them.
It’s been five months since Capt. Davis returned to West Seattle as precinct commander; he noted that some categories of crime were spiking back then, but they’ve been “strateg(izing)” how to fight them, and have had success. For one, he said, they’ve put together what is in effect “a posse to go out and hunt our bad guys … (those responsible) for auto thefts, burglaries, other crimes that have plagued neighborhoods.”
We’ve just received confirmation that the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council WILL resume its monthly meeting schedule as planned, starting tomorrow night (Tuesday, September 15th), 7 pm, at the Southwest Precinct‘s community meeting room. If you have a neighborhood concern to bring up with SPD, and/or want to hear local crime trends firsthand, this is the one open, public, monthly chance to do that. Each meeting usually also has a featured topic and/or guest; this time around, it’s self-defense, discussing with SPD and attendees, according to WSCPC president Richard Miller, “(the) relative advantages and disadvantages of various personal protection/self defense devices (stun guns, tasers, pepper spray, handguns, etc.).” The precinct is at Delridge and Webster; the community-room entrance is off the parking lot on Webster.
If you were thinking of going to the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting – don’t; it’s not happening. We arrived at the precinct and found out that the meeting was being canceled; WSCPC president Richard Miller continues to deal with health challenges. We’ll take the liberty of saying again, as we were asked to mention in our coverage of last month’s meeting – if anyone is interested in helping so that this group can continue, please e-mail westseattlecpc@gmail.com.
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