(Friday night WSB photo, taken on 63rd just south of 63rd)
Last night, we happened to be driving in Alki when police passed us, rushing to the scene of a report that someone had “brandished” a weapon; here’s what we reported at the time. This morning, in addition to commenters providing more detail following our first report, we now have full details from police via SPDBlotter, which identifies the suspect as a 25-year-old man and tells the story:

On 06/05/09, at approximately 7:00 p.m., a suspect was at 60th AV SW and Alki Av SW with a female friend, when he got into a confrontation with a group of juveniles (young teenagers — middle school students). The suspect hurled profanities at the teens and pulled up his shirt to display a holstered handgun, frightening the juveniles and many onlookers. Officers arrived on scene and quickly located the suspect at Alki & 63rd SW. Officers recovered a .357 magnum revolver from the suspect’s waistband. He appeared to be under the influence of alcohol, and was also carrying a flask of whiskey. The suspect, produced a US Army ID, identifying him as an active duty sergeant, and a CCW permit issued by the state of Ohio.

After interviewing victims and witnesses, it was determined that the display of the handgun did not appear reasonable in response to any real or perceived threats from the juveniles. The suspect was arrested without incident and transported the Southwest Precinct. The suspect’s immediate commanding officer was contacted and made aware of the situation. The suspect was booked into King County Jail for unlawful carrying/display of a weapon. The revolver and Ohio CCW card were placed into evidence.

Washington does honor Ohio concealed-weapons permits, by the way, according to data we found online. As for the suspect’s status, while we don’t have his name, the jail register does show one man booked into jail last night on this type of charge, and he’s still in custody right now in lieu of $950 bail.

Checked with the Southwest Precinct today after receiving a few notes asking about a significant police presence at the 35th/Henderson (map) Gasco station around 9 last night – triggering an “aid response” Fire Department call – and happening just about the same time as the power outage, which certainly dominated attention for a few hours. Lt. Ron Smith tells WSB that officers responded to a call about an apparently mentally disturbed man “who was attempting to carjack a car from (the) gas station. When they arrived, the suspect was out of control, and unable/unwilling to follow commands from the officers. A struggle ensued, and the suspect was Tased and brought under control. One of the officers suffered an minor injury with exposure to suspect’s blood.” Lt. Smith says the suspect was booked into King County Jail.

Earlier this week, we linked to the official Seattle Police release of crime statistics from the first 4 months of this year. Since then, we’ve learned the Southwest Precinct compiles even more specific – and fresher – reports each month, and Lt. Steve Paulsen has just shared the West Seattle-area “property crimes” report for May. The map above, showing where residential burglaries happened last month, is just one part of it. The entire document is a PowerPoint you can see here in its entirety (we converted it to a PDF) – or, just read the highlights: Last month in West Seattle, there were 100 car prowls, almost the same as April (101), but significantly up compared to 74 in May 2008; as for auto thefts, last month there were 32, up from 29 in April and 28 in May 2008. (Notably, though, June through May, the auto-theft totals are down from the same period a year earlier: 503 for June ’07 through May ’08, 417 for June ’08 through May ’09.) Residential burglaries are down: 50 during May, compared to 68 in April, and 56 in May 2008. Lots of numbers but if you prefer to see all the charts and maps for yourself – it’s all here.

Seattle Police have gone public with the city’s crime stats for the first four months of this year. The overview is the same as what we’ve heard in West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meetings and other venues all year – violent crimes down, nonviolent crimes up, to summarize. Here’s the Southwest Precinct report; an excerpt from its intro:

… Southwest Precinct is posting an increase in Major Crimes for the first four months of 2009 when compared with the same period in 2008. Unlike the other precincts, however, the overall crime rise is being driven more by increases in Property Crimes than by Violent Crimes. Among Property Crimes, both burglaries and larceny/thefts are up, compared to a year ago. Southwest Precinct is also the only precinct posting an increase in vehicle thefts.

The burglary increase, compared to the same period of 2008, is dramatic – 231 in the Southwest Precinct area (which includes South Park as well as West Seattle) last year, jumping to 344 this year – up almost 50 percent. The vehicle-theft increase mentioned above is not as dramatic — 121 this year, 115 last. Here’s the page with links to all precincts’ reports, if you’re interested in comparing – the population and acreage of the precincts varies, of course, so you can’t really compare 1-to-1.

The verdict’s in at the trial of three teenagers who attacked Southwest Precinct Officer Jason McKissack in High Point last June: Guilty, according to this seattletimes.com report, which also says they face no more than a month in jail when they’re sentenced in June. McKissack is still on leave, recovering from injuries including getting kicked in the head (we summarized the police report in this WSB story last June).

We’re at the first West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting since the Alki shooting and other high-profile incidents (like the hate-graffiti vandalism wave, in which, as we first reported earlier today, there’s been an arrest) – there’s a sizable SPD presence here, including Captain Joe Kessler, who leads the Southwest Precinct (as well as the entire Community Police Team, SWP operations Lt. Steve Paulsen, Sgt. Jeff Durden, and city attorney Tom Carr). We will post updates as they happen. 7:34 PM UPDATE: Carr spoke first, focusing on explaining the “community prosecution” program; during Q/A afterward, that discussion also has veered into a discussion of some of the problem property owners in the Delridge area, absentee landlords who some residents here say are turning a deaf ear to complaints about unruly, criminal tenants, in units for which they say the landlords collect government-subsidy money. 7:39 PM UPDATE: Lt. Paulsen is giving the crime trends update: auto theft, car prowls, assaults down, residential burglaries up, Highland Park is a particular hot spot right now for burglaries – and many, Lt. Paulsen says, are happening on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Lt. Paulsen says a juvenile suspect has been arrested in connection with the recent Alki shooting (no further details yet).

Thanks to the folks who e-mailed us a little earlier this morning to ask about a search, and sirens, in the Admiral area, 45th/Admiral vicinity (map). Lt. Ron Smith at the Southwest Precinct tells us that followed “a street robbery of a victim who was walking.” The robbers are described as four males in their late teens; K-9 joined the search but didn’t find them. Lt. Smith also mentioned another incident in the early morning hours — gunshots heard near Sanislo Elementary (map). He says “Officers responded and found three .380 cal. shell casings on the street. There were no reports of injuries, and no property damage was reported or found.”

It was a story we covered last summer, starting with the story of a shocking attack, continuing with a heartening community outpouring of well-wishes: Southwest Precinct Officer Jason McKissack was attacked and seriously injured eleven months ago while responding to a call in High Point. Days later, in an effort led by the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council, hundreds of people sent him get-well wishes and messages of gratitude. Fast-forward to yesterday: While talking with Southwest Precinct Captain Joe Kessler about Alki police presence, for this followup to last week’s shooting, we learned that not only is Officer McKissack still not back at work, but that the trial of his accused attackers — identified at the time as two 16-year-old boys and a 17-year-old girl — is about to begin. According to information we subsequently obtained from the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, trial is set to start today, before King Co. Superior Court Judge Tim Bradshaw at the county courthouse downtown, and will likely last about a week; we have heard from at least one West Seattle resident who is scheduled to testify as a witness.

As discussion intensified in the comment section following our as-it-happened coverage of Friday night’s Alki shooting (original report here, today’s first followup here) – which sent a 19-year-old to the hospital, with the shooter/s still at large – many people asked about police presence at the beach — is it less than before; whether it is or not, should there be more? So we put in a request to talk with the man who’s in charge of West Seattle police, the commander of the Southwest Precinct, Captain Joe Kessler. First thing this morning, he sat down with WSB for more than an hour. Important to note, you will see him at some upcoming community meetings, including the Alki Community Council on May 21, so as we’ve said before, you will want to be there to directly voice any concerns you have. But as for some answers right now – here’s our story about the conversation with Capt. Kessler this morning:

(Friday night photos, this one and above left, by David Hutchinson)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Just one hour after a 19-year-old was shot at Alki last Friday night, WSB commenter “At the Beach” asked, “Shouldn’t there have been at least more (of) a police presence on a sunny Friday evening down at Alki?”

That’s one of the questions Capt. Joe Kessler, now in his second year as commander of the police precinct responsible for West Seattle and South Park, wanted to answer – even before we asked it. (Yes, he reads WSB comments too.) Right off the top in our conversation at the precinct this morning, he addressed a specific question about police presence, as asked by Cathy at 8:55 Friday night: “Remember that huge police RV, command center type vehicle which always seemed to be parked right across from Alki Auto? Haven’t seen it for a long time.”

According to Capt. Kessler, that’s because the “RV” — officially, a “mobile precinct” — got to be so old, it started “falling apart” and is no longer in service; it was used less last year than in years past, in fact, he says. The Southwest Precinct used to share it with another precinct, and is now without an official share of a “mobile precinct,” though if desperately needed, one could be borrowed from elsewhere. The captain says, however, it’s not what he considers the best use of police resources.

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At the Southwest Precinct for the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting (which has the biggest crowd we’ve seen in a long time, more than 30 people):

Beth Gappert, precinct liaison for the City Attorney’s Office, says the owner of the business best known as “the vacuum shop” in the 5200 block of Delridge (Google Street View image above) has pleaded guilty to Seattle Municipal Code violations, as the result of an ongoing investigation involving stolen goods. No jail time at this point – a “deferred sentence” – but she says he is under “tight scrutiny.” (Added 8:09 pm: Talked to Gappert after the meeting – the Municipal Code violations included “engaging in business without a used-goods license” and “failure to retain property for 30 days” – she explains that businesses dealing in used goods are supposed to hold onto them for that long before turning around and selling them.)

Also so far tonight, Southwest Precinct Sgt. Jeff Durden has had two announcements of note: First, a crackdown on suspicious activity in Westcrest Park (he says community activists and Parks crews will be there this Thursday to do some shrubbery trimming to cut down on the hiding places); he also says that Community Police Team officer Kevin McDaniel has added more duties – he is now also responsible for the three major Seattle Housing Authority apartment buildings in West Seattle.

Plus: Sgt. Durden had a few extra notes from last week’s burglary at closed-since-2007 Fairmount Park Elementary — two of the six suspects arrested were adults, and both were booked into jail (the police report from that incident also says there had been two break-ins at the school in the days before that one — nothing significant had been taken but a broken window from those break-ins may have figured into this one).

The Crime Prevention Council also now has its own e-mail address, if you have a question or idea: westseattlecpc@gmail.com

From our review of the past week’s reports at the Southwest Precinct:

A 41-year-old Highland Park woman got a warning from police after leaving her two-year-old daughter alone in the family car while she shopped at Westwood Village Target. Police were called after passersby saw the little girl alone in a Nissan Frontier, strapped into a rear-facing booster seat, car doors locked, all windows rolled up except for one cracked open half an inch. While one officer went in to ask the store to put out a page, another stayed at the car to figure out how to get the child out. The mother answered the page and told police, according to the report, “She was asleep and I didn’t want to wake her up”; meantime, another officer set off the vehicle alarm and noted that the child got out of her seat, crawled across the cab, played with the gear shift, and opened a door for the officer. After police explained to the mother “in great detail how much danger she put her child in by leaving her unattended in a vehicle … (and) explained the exceptionally high levels of auto theft that occur in the area,” they let her go with a warning, but said the report would be forwarded to CPS. In fact, five auto-theft cases were among the other West Seattle reports we reviewed, as was a 7-11 robbery, and more – read on:Read More