West Seattle, Washington
18 Monday
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.
Just got an update from Seattle Fire Department spokesperson Dana Vander Houwen on the fire we covered overnight (original WSB report here) in the 1700 block of 44th SW: She says Seattle Police Arson and Bomb Squad is helping investigate — the cause so far remains “undetermined.” The house was vacant and for sale; damage from the fire totals $430,000 — $400,000 to the house itself, $10,000 to its contents (not much was inside since nobody was living there), $10,000 each in damage to the exterior of the two neighboring houses. No one was hurt in the fire, which broke out around 3 am; our earlier report includes the story of the first person on the scene, neighboring resident Craig, who took the photo you see above.
6:34 PM: Added that shot taken late today, from the rear alley (the same spot from which the photo of the burning house was taken), also showing some of the exterior damage to the house on the left side of the photo. After we mentioned in our earlier story that we couldn’t find the listing, several local Realtors kindly found it and sent it – the address isn’t the same as the one listed in county records – but it’s the same house; it was listed as for sale at $499,000 and said a sale was “pending.” No new updates regarding the fire’s cause.
The presentation of the colors opened the ceremony at noon today at Dignity Memorial/Forest Lawn in High Point, with dozens of police officers and community members gathered for a groundbreaking. We reported a week ago about the plan for this site — Forest Lawn is donating it for the construction of what will be Seattle’s first freestanding memorial to officers who lost their lives in the line of duty. The ceremony was brief; speakers included West Seattle’s highest-ranking law enforcer, Southwest Precinct Captain Joe Kessler:
The line of SPD cars nearby was another sign of the police participation:
Also in attendance, representatives of groups that assist the families of fallen officers. Forest Lawn officials explained that the idea’s been in the works for three years, sparked by ongoing collaboration with SPD chaplains, whose leader John Oas was part of today’s event, and helped with the ceremonial groundbreaking:
Forest Lawn will now embark on fundraising to help cover the cost of designing and building the actual memorial; they’re hoping it will be ready for a big dedication ceremony around this time next year. (Forest Lawn has another big event coming up, by the way – 2 pm May 25th, the annual Memorial Day ceremony; here’s our coverage from last year.)
Reminder – at noon today (here’s our report from a week ago), you’re invited to Forest Lawn in High Point for the dedication of a site intended to become the first freestanding memorial to Seattle Police who lost their lives in the line of duty. (Here’s a map to Forest Lawn.)
(WSB photos from Saturday, by Christopher Boffoli)
We just checked with Seattle Police to follow up on the end of the five and a half hour SWAT standoff on Saturday in Fauntleroy (our as-it-happened coverage is here, our coverage of the arrest and aftermath is here). First, the status of the man police took into custody: 
What we believe to be his name (we’re not publishing it without 100% certainty) has not turned up on the jail register; according to police spokesperson Officer Mark Jamieson, he was taken to Harborview Medical Center for what they expected would be a 72-hour mental evaluation. We also asked Officer Jamieson if weapons were indeed found inside the man’s apartment; he says yes – a shotgun and two handguns. (Police were first called after neighbors nearby saw the man outside the building with what they described as a shotgun.) As for whether the man will be charged with a crime as a result of the incident, Jamieson says officers wrote up a “mental report” rather than one suggesting charges, at this point – even if he were charged with “obstruction,” for example, that’s a misdemeanor.
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
Football’s back on the field tonight at Southwest Athletic Complex (across from the permanent Chief Sealth High School campus), as local officers and deputies from Seattle Police Department and King County Sheriff’s Office coach a flag-football jamboree with players from all over the metro area — our video captured a few lively plays. Both agencies sponsored the tournament through the Greater King County Police Activity League, with grant assistance from NFL Youth Football; according to the original announcement, tonight’s jamboree marks “the beginning of an eight-week long series of games which will include elementary, middle, and high schools kids from the inner city as well as five tribal communities.” The PAL has previously sponsored youth boxing, too. Big day for local law enforcers in the many community activities they are involved with in their “off-hours” – today was also “Tip A Cop” day at local Red Robin restaurants, per this item on SPDBlotter, the department’s blog-style site (which just launched a new look, by the way).
Will add this to the West Seattle Weekend Lineup too, but wanted to share the entire announcement just in from King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson John Urquhart – a big football event in West Seattle tomorrow, presented by an organization led by both KCSO and Seattle Police – read on for details:Read More
(photo courtesy Mayor Nickels’ office)
As part of the city’s Youth Violence Prevention Initiative, five public middle schools, including Denny in West Seattle, will have officers on campus. The four officers on the citywide team were introduced at Seattle Public Schools HQ today; here’s the official announcement.
(thanks to Stephanie for the photo)
Dorcas sent first word of major police activity near Fairmount Playfield (map), and then Stephanie provided a the follow-up report (also confirmed via scanner) that an apparent break-in at closed (though opening soon for summer school) Fairmount Park Elementary is involved, and arrests are reported. We’re on the way to find out more in person. UPDATE: On site, we’ve counted nine cruisers and at least one Seattle Public Schools vehicle – good area to avoid till things settle down.
From the scanner, sounds like four suspects are in custody and one more is being sought. 5:50 PM UPDATE: Two more suspects in custody, per both the scanner and what we’re seeing on scene. Officers are still checking inside the school for more. We’re told at the scene that an alarm was tripped, leading to the successful response.
8:17 PM UPDATE: SPDBlotter has a little more information – all six suspects are described as male, 2 “young adults” and 4 “juveniles.” Looks like no property damage in the building, the report says.
Mayor Nickels has just announced that Deputy Chief John Diaz will be the acting police chief, as Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske leaves for his new federal job. He is speaking live on Seattle Channel right now and says he has no timetable for choosing a permanent chief. “The reason I accepted this,” Diaz said, “is because I’m a cop .. I’ve been doing this for a long time. … The Seattle Police Department needs to mirror the priorities of its neighborhoods.” Mayor Nickels says he will discuss details of the chief-search process once there’s an official vacancy – in other words, once Kerlikowske is confirmed as federal “drug czar.” Diaz, who’s 51, says he is interested in the permanent job. 1:25 PM NOTE: The news conference is now over; when the archived video is up on the Seattle Channel site, we’ll add a link here. TUESDAY NOTE: Here’s that link.
ENERGETIC NIGHT FOR SUSTAINABLE WEST SEATTLE: What better way to follow up a mini-windstorm than a discussion of non-fossil-fuel energy sources like wind? An Alki resident whose wind-power invention is getting a lot of attention, Jellyfish Wind Appliance creator Chad Maglaque, is among the guests discussing “community energy” at tonight’s Sustainable West Seattle monthly meeting at Camp Long Lodge, 7 pm.
ALKI SIDEWALK PROJECT SET TO START: We’ve been updating you on the Alki Point sidewalk completion/traffic-calming project in the past month, as construction got closer; today’s the day it’s set to start (providing our weekend weather woes haven’t caused a delay) – here’s our previous coverage with details of the project and timetable for construction; note that it’s starting at the Beach/Alki bend, which is a dicey drive in the best of conditions, so avoid that area if you can. (10:42 am note, just drove through the project zone to see if anything was happening yet – no equipment or signs – not exactly ideal work weather, of course – will keep checking and will post again whenever it DOES truly start.)
And one big citywide story to watch for this afternoon:
ACTING POLICE CHIEF ANNOUNCEMENT: Mayor Nickels is scheduled to announce at City Hall, 1 pm, who will run the department — at least temporarily — if and when Chief Gil Kerlikowske leaves for his new job in D.C. (The Times says this morning that Nickels wants it to be Deputy Chief John Diaz.)
Often, a “ridealong” – when a civilian observer goes along with a police officer on patrol — can be uneventful. Not the ones that West Seattle-based author Michael Stusser writes about, vividly and compactly, including one from the Southwest Precinct; read his story here.
(Photo by WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli)
The Seattle Police SWAT team was in West Seattle briefly this morning. According to SPD spokesperson Renee Witt, the police received a call about a family member threatening another family member with a gun in a home near the intersection in the 4700 block of 26th SW (map). Witt says the situation ended when the suspect surrendered shortly after the SWAT team arrived and that suspect is currently in custody.
At right, that’s Southwest Precinct commander, Captain Joe Kessler, talking to the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce‘s monthly luncheon meeting – which transformed the precinct’s community room into an informal banquet room for the occasion. Capt. Kessler is coming up on his first anniversary since taking over precinct leadership; he was joined in speaking to the chamber by Lt. Steve Paulsen, whose role as operations lieutenant is basically “assistant precinct commander,” he explained, and he also introduced Lt. Norm James, one of the precinct’s “watch commanders.” They didn’t discuss crime specifics — though Capt. Kessler said he’s “confident” about progress in the Steve Bushaw shooting investigation — as much as voice hopes about working more closely with the business community, inviting them to be represented on the Precinct Advisory Council (whose chair Pete Spalding was in attendance). Mentioning the reports that the city’s likely in the market for a new police chief, Capt. Kessler mentioned that “at the internal service level, nothing will change” even if the department’s top leadership changes. As for his position, he said he’s hoping to stay put at this precinct a while, praising his team and also the level of community involvement he’s found in West Seattle. Other notes from the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce lunch: There’s still time for you to nominate people for the WSCC’s Business of the Year and Community Service awards, which will be presented at the annual Awards Breakfast on April 8; the forms are linked from this page. Next Chamber lunch meeting is March 11; the theme: “speed networking.” (Disclosure: WSB is one of the many, many West Seattle businesses that belong to the Chamber of Commerce, so we attend the monthly luncheons as member-participants as well as to be there in case news is made!)
Sorry, no goat reunions today, but we do have two animal photos to share, and one in fact DOES involve police: That first photo – which we snapped by cameraphone during an afternoon errand at Westwood Village – is in desperate need of a caption. Just can’t think of it. Suggestions? Police told us they took these horses to WV to help them get used to car traffic. (The Seattle Police Mounted Patrol, by the way, is based right here in West Seattle, in Westcrest Park.) Meantime, traveling Beach Drive just north of Me-Kwa-Mooks, we had to pull over and admire this big bird, more than three times the size of the crows that were harassing him/her:
Peregrine falcon? UPDATE: “K” suggests, in the comment section, that it might be a young bald eagle. Photos like this seem to verify that possibility (and of course eagles ARE often seen around Alki/Beach Drive).
That’s Southwest Precinct Officer Kathleen Graves sharing in the happy reunion that ended a minidrama that played out earlier this evening: We got e-mail and text messages from Officer Bruce Wind that Officer Graves had found that goat at 32nd and Elmgrove (map), and perhaps we could get the word out fast enough for the owner to claim the goat before Animal Control arrived. So we posted a note in the WSB Forums and sent it out via Twitter and Facebook. Someone who saw one of those posts called the goat’s owner, and she retrieved it from the precinct, where it had been hanging out in a holding cell:
As one of the e-mails received captioned that photo, “It’s gotta go real baaa-aa-aad” … and gone it has … gone home. Gotta love a happy ending now and then.
At White Center Now, we’ve posted coverage of tonight’s White Center/South Delridge Community Safety Coalition meeting. One tidbit along the way: Remember the BB-gun burglary arrests? Southwest Precinct Community Police Team officer Adonis Topacio revealed tonight that the motive was … stealing to get money for restitution to PREVIOUS burglary victims. EARLY AM SIDE NOTE: On both sides of the South Delridge/White Center line, the same group of robbers reportedly hit two stores Thursday night – Gas Depot on Delridge, Lucky 7 on 4th SW – within three hours. Info in this WSB Forums thread; we’ll check with law enforcers later this morning about possible surveillance pix to share.
If you hadn’t already followed the SPD Blotter link from the WSB Crime Watch page, here’s the crime-stats page it links to. We’re just starting to read this and will add any noteworthy trends (although from ongoing coverage, we’d wager it’s pretty easy to guess what’ll turn out to be the major category bedeviling our side of the bay, and likely others).
While checking out a major fire-unit call that didn’t pan out, WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli happened onto a sizable police search nearby. A neighbor told him someone spotted a man looking into windows of homes; no word yet of any arrests (or any actual burglaries). Christopher took the photo on SW Nevada between 26th and 30th (map).
Following up on the Parks Department rule proposal – which didn’t make it out of last night’s Board of Park Commissioners meeting (WSB coverage here) – SPD Blotter has posted a letter from Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske addressing the question “Is nudity illegal?” Bottom line: no easy answer.
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