West Seattle, Washington
02 Sunday
On Twitter, it was mentioned that SPD was out in force watching the West Seattle Bridge bus lanes again today – so it’s no surprise another roundup is out on SPD Blotter (though it’s attributed to activities yesterday): In two hours on the bridge, they say their ticket total included 70 bus-lane violations, 7 “no proof of insurance,” and 2 “motorcycles passing cars on the shoulder of the roadway.”
Friday night brings another list of what the Seattle Police Aggressive Drivers Response Team has been up to – three West Seattle spots listed this time in the report on SPD Blotter:
West Marginal Way SW – 40 mph zone
1 at 83 mph (with an open container of alcohol)
1 at 58 mph
1 at 57 mph
1 at 56 mph
2 at 55 mph
1 at 54 mph
3 at 51 mph
4 No Proof of Insurance3100 block SW Admiral Way – 30 mph zone
1 at 49 mph
2 at 47 mph
1 at 46 mph
2 at 45 mph
1 at 44 mph
1 Cell Phone
1 Stop SignHighland Park Way SW – 30 mph
1 at 49mph
1 Texting While Driving
If you missed it, your editor here had a “ridealong” with an ADRT officer recently – here’s the story, with video, published here last weekend.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Throughout this spring, West Seattle has been in an unusual spotlight – making a regular appearance on the Seattle Police Department‘s SPD Blotter website, as the Aggressive Drivers Response Team reports citation totals from staking out speeding-rich spots such as the east Admiral Way hill, the West Seattle Bridge, or “I-35.”
Like this (May 27th).
And this (April 21st).
And then there was the 92 mph citation on the West Seattle Bridge.
When this started to become a frequent occurrence, we asked for the chance to ride along. Police ride-alongs are fairly routine news-media fodder, particularly in TV, but since your editor here had spent so many years as an office-dwelling manager/producer, the opportunity had never presented itself.
The SPD media-response unit accepted the request, and after some weeks of phone tag, one gray day last month, we finally got the ridealong.
Not entirely what we expected. But if you’re interested in details about how the ADRT works – plus the one video moment when our assigned officer chased and snagged a(n alleged) speeder – now we know what the Charger sounds like from inside! – read on:Read More
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:
*Around 12:30 last Sunday morning, two men walking in the 2500 block of Alki SW were confronted by a group of men in their twenties who demanded money. When the men refused, they were knocked to the ground and repeatedly kicked. One victim suffered no losses, but the other man’s clothes were ripped and his wallet stolen. The attackers ran to the south and left in two cars: one a dark blue Chevy diesel “dually” truck (one with four rear tires — two on each side) and the other a dark SUV.
Fairly quiet week, so only three more summaries after the jump:Read More
Once again today, via Twitter, we heard police were focusing on West Seattle Bridge bus lane violators. Here’s the results, from SPD Blotter:
On June 15th, the Aggressive Drivers Response Team (ADRT) conducted a “Bus Only” lane emphasis patrol on the West Seattle Bridge at the request of West Seattle residents.
The following citations were issued:
West Seattle Bridge – 45 mph zone
1 at 59 mph
19 Bus Lane violationsAdditionally, an ADRT officer issued the following citations today:
3100 block SW Admiral Way – 30 mph zone:
1 at 52 mph
1 at 49 mph
1 at 48 mph
2 at 47 mph
3 at 46 mph
1 at 44 mph1 Seat Belt
Results are in, via SPD Blotter, from the bus-lane crackdown mentioned on Twitter on Friday (here and here), though it is reported as a two-day effort. Read on for the details (headline – 51 lane violations) plus another crackdown on Highland Park Way:Read More
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:
*The victim of a car prowl took matters into his own hands around 1 a.m. last Saturday, when he came outside (in the 2300 block of Barton Pl.) and punched a man who he said was breaking into his car. When officers arrived, the 55-year-old suspect (who lives in the neighborhood) was on the ground, bleeding from a cut near his eye. He was taken to Harborview for treatment and then booked into King County Jail for investigation of theft.
*A man using the business phone at a Junction grocery became loud and belligerent. When the manager told the man to hang up, he was threatened and shoved. A nearby witness happened to be a police officer, who held the intoxicated suspect down until uniformed officers arrived. The suspect, a Beacon Hill resident, was booked into jail for investigation of assault.
Six more summaries, plus new details on an incident recently covered in WSB Crime Watch, ahead:Read More
It’s one of the most fun nights of the summer – hundreds of neighborhoods around West Seattle, and thousands elsewhere, celebrating community and crimefighting as part of the annual Night Out Against Crime. Despite cuts in the Seattle Police crime-prevention-coordinator staff, Night Out is on, according to word just in from Mark Solomon, who’s the coordinator for precincts including ours. He says Night Out this year is on Tuesday, August 2nd, and you can register your block party (which means you get to close the street, as long as it’s not an arterial) right now! Just go here. There’s a Night Out page on Facebook, too – find that here. And as we say every year, we would love to feature your party as part of WSB coverage – if you wouldn’t mind a photojournalist stopping by, please let us know the address (here’s how to reach us) before party night! (And if we don’t make it, please share a photo, as it’s great to show everyone in West Seattle as many of the neighbors and friends they just haven’t yet met!)
Seattle Police have published another update on what the Aggressive Drivers Response Team has been up to. This one was a two-parter – one North Seattle, one West Seattle. For the latter, they worked on Highland Park Way yesterday – with the list of citations (see it here) said to include 11 uninsured drivers people driving without proof of insurance.
(Pete Spalding, Asst. Chief Mike Sanford, Chief John Diaz, Mayor McGinn pre-briefing)
Just back from the briefing at Don Armeni about this summer’s Seattle Police Citywide Late Night Public Safety Emphasis patrols. While the patrols will target what the announcement one-sheet refers to as “Designated Night Life Zones,” that doesn’t just mean places where you’ll find nightclubs: The two areas singled out in West Seattle are Alki and High Point (specifically, 35th/Graham and a one-block radius in all directions).
The new patrols – which Mayor McGinn and Police Chief Diaz repeatedly stressed will be taken from “on-duty resources,” not overtime or special call-ins – will start this Friday night, and continue Friday and Saturday nights through the summer, until a not-yet-determined date in September. Those on-duty resources, up to about 25 citywide on any given night, will come mostly from the Anti-Crime Teams, SWAT, and DUI officers who are on duty. They will not necessarily be in all the areas on the citywide “emphasis zone” map on each of those nights – if it’s raining, Assistant Chief Mike Sanford quipped, you won’t see them on Alki. And conversely, they might be deployed to areas not among the “emphasis zones,” if trouble seems to be brewing, Sanford said.
Pete Spalding of Pigeon Point has long been on the Southwest Precinct Citizens Advisory Council, and that was his reason for joining McGinn, Diaz, and Sanford in the brief speeches/Q-A event at a portable podium, set up at one of the lookout spots at Don Armeni’s north half, while numerous other SPD reps – including two Southwest Precinct Community Police Team reps on bicycles – looked on. “Extra officers patroling our neighborhoods is a good thing,” Spalding declared. (In the photo above, that’s the West Seattle section of the “emphasis zones” map – with Alki and High Point in red; full map added after the jump below.)
We asked Sanford why High Point, when it doesn’t have any conventional “nightlife.” He explained they are focusing on areas where “people are out,” not just places with nightlife-related businesses.
The point, Diaz said, was to meet one of his goals – to reduce fear of crime. While crime is down overall, he says, fear is up, and he believes seeing more officers on patrol can combat that.
(4:57 pm) The mayor’s office just sent the official news release – the text is after the jump (also, 5:57 pm, added our video of the entire briefing above, and the citywide map):Read More
If you’re in the Don Armeni vicinity around 3:30 pm tomorrow and see a knot of activity, probably including TV trucks, here’s what it’s about: Mayor McGinn, Seattle Police Chief John Diaz, and other SPD leadership (among others) will be discussing a new plan for “citywide late-night public safety emphasis patrols.” The media invitation that arrived minutes ago describes this as: “City will promote uniformed police visibility in areas with high concentration of people enjoying Friday and Saturday nightlife opportunities.” What does that specifically mean for West Seattle? We’ll have details as soon as that’s available. (This time last year, the mayor and police chief announced these types of patrols for several non-WS neighborhoods.)
Seattle Police have published another roundup of speeding (mostly) citations on their SPD Blotter site – Admiral Way, West Seattle Bridge, and a new wrinkle: the Arbor Heights Elementary school zone. (Numbers aren’t mentioned, just “five speeding citations” for that area.) See the details here.
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:
*After being approached by a concerned citizen on Wednesday afternoon, officers spoke with a transient man who apparently has been sleeping in the dugout at a Lincoln Park baseball field. For several weeks, he had allegedly been leering at women and harassing the kids who try to use the facility. He was cooperative with officers and has been told not to return to the park to camp or sleep. Officers also confiscated an illegal 3.5 inch fixed-blade knife and are taking official steps to have the man trespassed from the park – meaning, formally told that he is not allowed there at all.
Seven more summaries ahead:Read More
The big police response in Highland Park this past hour, around 9th/Henderson, is linked to a family-violence case, according to police. They say a father and son clashed after one showed up at the residence with a gun. We’re told one is in custody and the other was still being sought, at last report.
Just in from WSB/White Center Now contributor Deanie Schwarz – More than 20 law-enforcement vehicles, including several from Seattle Police, rushed to help a King County transit deputy after an attack attempt this past hour in WC. A Sheriff’s Office supervisor told Deanie that the deputy tried to make a routine traffic stop, pulling over the vehicle in a business parking lot at 106th/16th. As the deputy approached the vehicle, the driver threw it into reverse, gunned it, and tried to run over the deputy, according to the KCSO supervisor. Deanie says the call for backup brought cars from Seattle, Burien, and Sound Transit as well as the Sheriff’s Office. The deputy wasn’t hurt; one arrest is reported, and three more people were detained for questioning.
After something of a lull, the Seattle Police SPD Blotter has resumed updates on the Aggressive Drivers Response Team, and the latest update published minutes ago has some stats from today – read on:Read More
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:
*Around 5:30 Tuesday evening, a citizen called 911 to report that someone in a passing car had fired a shot toward a home in the 6500 block of 34th SW. As it turns out, a person on the sidewalk had been the target. (And the target wouldn’t answer any questions.) Officers did, however, have a description of the car, which — along with its driver— turned out to be well-known to gang detectives. It was spotted and pulled over in Rainier Valley later in the week. The 17-year-old driver, a Kent resident, was booked into the Youth Service Center for investigation of the drive-by shooting.
Eleven more summaries – and it’s a little grittier than usual this time, so beware – after the jump:Read More
(Photos added 6:36 am)
6:01 AM: We’re near 38th and Oregon, which is blocked to traffic because of police activity including the SWAT team.
6:10 AM: Police on scene won’t comment, but whatever it’s about, it’s ending, and they’re leaving. We received a few notes saying people in the area heard loud explosion-type noises within the past hour; there’s no indication from the Fire Department’s 911 log of anyone needing medical attention, but SWAT officers do use devices creating noise as a diversion – we’ll be asking if that’s what happened.
7:09 AM UPDATE: Det. Mark Jamieson with the SPD media-response unit confirms it was a warrant situation – a “high-risk search warrant” with the hopes of finding a particular (not publicly identified) suspect. As for whether they did or didn’t, he’s still checking, so we’ll probably have yet another update here later.
(Click image to go to YouTube video page, where you can watch the video)
If you want to keep a burglar from kicking your door in, what matters is “not the deadbolt, it’s the door frame.” That potentially surprising advice was part of a briefing on Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, presented Tuesday night by Southwest Precinct Community Police Team Officer Jonathan Kiehn for the West Seattle Blockwatch Captains Network.
Officer Kiehn had briefed the group on CPTED principles back in March, and recapped that briefing last night before attendees headed to the local home chosen for the on-scene review. Once there, we rolled video on his entire outdoor-and-indoor review, which you can watch above, unedited and nearly an hour long – looking at everything from landscaping to lighting to doors to the back yard to the alley, and yes, the door-frame issue.
(Even if you’re not a Block Watch Captain – yet! – follow the group on Facebook and the Web for invaluable crime-prevention advice and meeting announcements.)
Just in case you’re wondering: K-9 is helping with a police search that is related to at least two complaints in the Fairmount Park/Fairmount Springs area. WSB contributor Katie Meyer heard the early scanner traffic and reports that two people were reportedly seen in at least one backyard, one possibly with a ladder; the 5400 block of 41st SW was mentioned. There has also been a report of someone suspicious seen east of the park. We’ll add more information when/if we get it.
1:47 AM UPDATE: We haven’t heard back from police yet, but we have it from a neighborhood source that one suspect was taken into custody, believed to be the man spotted going through a car.
2:07 AM UPDATE: Confirmation from Lt. Alan Williams at the Southwest Precinct: “At about 11:54, a citizen who lives in the 5400 block of 42nd SW [map] saw someone inside his (unlocked) car. The suspect ran when the victim yelled at him. The victim called 9-1-1. Several patrol units and one K9 unit responded. The dog and handler were able to locate and detain a possible suspect in the 5600 block of 41st SW. The victim identified the suspect as the person he had seen inside his car. The suspect, a 20-year-old man, was booked into jail for Car Prowling.”
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:
*Around 4:30 last Friday afternoon, a 13-year-old was walking home from school when a car pulled into a driveway, blocking the sidewalk. A young passenger demanded money and the boy’s iPod. The boy said something to the effect of, “I don’t think so,” and added “I live near here. How about if I just get my parents instead?” The chagrined suspects drove off northbound in the 3400 block of Walnut SW. Both driver (aged 16 or so) and passenger (12-13 years old) were described as white males wearing white t-shirts; they were in a Nissan Frontier pickup truck.
4 more summaries (quiet week!) ahead:Read More
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
At the heart of a meeting tonight in Fairmount Springs was not a victim, but a person – a neighbor in the hospital, for reasons not yet understood, fighting to recover from serious injuries she suffered in some kind of attack.
She’s in stable condition, reported neighbors at the meeting’s start. Then at the meeting’s end, a prayer for her physical and emotional recovery was offered, by the pastor of the church where about 50 neighbors gathered.
And the neighbors’ condition was a source of concern too. Don’t be frightened, exhorted police. “It’s not the one who did this that’s the powerful one – you are,” asserted Mark Solomon, the Southwest Precinct‘s Crime Prevention Coordinator.
He spoke along with the top two Seattle Police leaders from the precinct, its commander, Capt. Steve Paulsen, and operations Lt. Pierre Davis. Before the meeting was out, City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen had offered a few words too.
The gathering at West Seattle Church of the Nazarene was the first major neighborhood meeting since another one sparked by crime concerns a year and a half ago (here’s our report from that night). And as it concluded, neighbors agreed they would like to meet more often – maybe quarterly – though they already are bound by strong Block Watches and a much-used mailing list. But first: What police said tonight about the Sunday morning attack, reported in the 5900 block of 41st SW – ahead:Read More
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:
*While working on his car in the Alaska Junction-area, a man needed to move his vehicle for just a few moments. When he pulled into an apartment lot across the alley, he was approached by a suspect who said, “You can’t park here.” The victim explained that it was just for a moment, but the suspect pulled a pistol from his waistband, flashed a badge that said, “concealed weapons permit,” and said, “You are trespassing and need to leave.” Bystanders intervened, and the suspect drove off before officers arrived.
*At West Seattle Golf Course one recent afternoon, a golfer approached the men ahead on the course and asked the obviously intoxicated pair if they could play faster. The response was a flurry of cussing and threats of “we’ll be waiting for you.” The suspects did, indeed, wait for the victims to return to their cars. One suspect stepped from behind a pickup truck and belly-bumped the victim several times. When the victim shoved back, the suspect began swinging. Medics had to be called to treat the victim, who suffered a severe laceration to his lip and nose and a serious injury to his right hand and thumb, which required a trip to the hospital. The suspect (described as white, heavyset, in his late 50s or 60s, ruddy complexion, reddish/balding hair, and glasses) drove off in a red pickup truck. But it’s his fashion sense that might make him easy to identify: Look for the man who golfs in a green hat, orange t-shirt, a purple vest, and multicolored checkered “clown pants.”
8 more summaries ahead:Read More
| 44 COMMENTS