Hi neighbors, looks like vandals are out and about in our neighborhood. The side of our car was spray painted black last night. If you see anyone acting suspicious, especially wielding an aerosol paint can, don't hesitate to confront them or call the police.
Have a great thanksgiving everyone!
Your neighbor @ 23rd and Bayview - Lee
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Car Prowls on the rise - South Precinct Email Community Newsletter November 18, 2008
Yeah, yeah, I know - you’re tired of seeing this subject. Trust me, I’m tired of writing about it. The sad reality is that we’ve seen a marked increase in the number of car prowls throughout the Precinct in recent months compared to this time last year.
Why The Increase?
We have some theories:
• Car prowlers are hard to catch in the act. While they occur all times of the day and night in every neighborhood, most occur during hours of darkness in areas that do not have a lot of foot or vehicle traffic at the time of the crime.
• Car prowls take less time to commit than other crimes. It literally takes seconds for the prowler to see if there’s anything in the car that attracts their attention and a few more seconds to open the unlocked door or break the window to get in, get the stuff and get away.
• Car Prowls are treated as misdemeanors. As car prowl is theft from a car, the crime is prosecutedas a theft, regardless of the damage done to the car in the commission of the crime. Even if an offender is caught and prosecuted, the crime is almost always prosecuted as a misdemeanor offense. That differs from burglary, which is a felony offense.
• Car prowl is lucrative. Consider this:
Items most often taken in car prowls: Laptops, IPods, cash, small electronics, wallets, weapons, IDs, GPS systems.
Say I’m a bad guy. If I break in to a car and get caught, I’m charged with a misdemeanor. So, why would I break in to a home and risk getting caught and charged with a felony when my take from the car is about what I’d get from the house? Just because I’m a criminal doesn’t mean I’m stupid.
Who’s Doing It?
There is no one group of people committing car prowls. They are youth who are taking a break from burglarizing homes. They are addicts looking for an easy score they can turn into quick cash for their next fix. They are transients walking through the area. They are adults. They are young people. Most of all, they are opportunists.
What Can Be Done?
Car Prowl is a prolific problem. There are things we as owners and operators of vehicles can do to prevent these crimes.
• Don’t leave items of value in your vehicle. You’ve seen us write this before and we say it at every community meeting. It bears repeating because we’re still seeing this behavior; items of value in a vehicle create an opportunity for the offender to exploit.
• We see reports of people who park along the lake to go walking but leave their wallets in the car. If you’re going to take a walk or run along the lake, take your wallet with you rather than leaving it in the car.
• If you are going to leave something in your car, don’t wait until you park at your destination before you put stuff in the trunk or under the seat. You’ve just shown anyone who’s around that you’ve just put stuff in your trunk or under the seat.
• Don’t leave accessories visible in your car. You may have taken the Laptop or IPod in with you, but if you leave the USB cables for your laptop or earbuds for the IPod in the back seat, the offender may think those items are in the car and break in anyway.
• GPS systems are being taken at an alarming rate. Think about how the GPS is mounted in your car. If the mounting for the GPS is visible, the thief may think the GPS is in the glove box or under the seat and may break in to try to get it. Have a removable mounting for the GPS and put that out of sight as well.
Until next time, Take Care and Stay Safe!
Mark Solomon, South Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator
Why The Increase?
We have some theories:
• Car prowlers are hard to catch in the act. While they occur all times of the day and night in every neighborhood, most occur during hours of darkness in areas that do not have a lot of foot or vehicle traffic at the time of the crime.
• Car prowls take less time to commit than other crimes. It literally takes seconds for the prowler to see if there’s anything in the car that attracts their attention and a few more seconds to open the unlocked door or break the window to get in, get the stuff and get away.
• Car Prowls are treated as misdemeanors. As car prowl is theft from a car, the crime is prosecutedas a theft, regardless of the damage done to the car in the commission of the crime. Even if an offender is caught and prosecuted, the crime is almost always prosecuted as a misdemeanor offense. That differs from burglary, which is a felony offense.
• Car prowl is lucrative. Consider this:
Items most often taken in car prowls: Laptops, IPods, cash, small electronics, wallets, weapons, IDs, GPS systems.
Say I’m a bad guy. If I break in to a car and get caught, I’m charged with a misdemeanor. So, why would I break in to a home and risk getting caught and charged with a felony when my take from the car is about what I’d get from the house? Just because I’m a criminal doesn’t mean I’m stupid.
Who’s Doing It?
There is no one group of people committing car prowls. They are youth who are taking a break from burglarizing homes. They are addicts looking for an easy score they can turn into quick cash for their next fix. They are transients walking through the area. They are adults. They are young people. Most of all, they are opportunists.
What Can Be Done?
Car Prowl is a prolific problem. There are things we as owners and operators of vehicles can do to prevent these crimes.
• Don’t leave items of value in your vehicle. You’ve seen us write this before and we say it at every community meeting. It bears repeating because we’re still seeing this behavior; items of value in a vehicle create an opportunity for the offender to exploit.
• We see reports of people who park along the lake to go walking but leave their wallets in the car. If you’re going to take a walk or run along the lake, take your wallet with you rather than leaving it in the car.
• If you are going to leave something in your car, don’t wait until you park at your destination before you put stuff in the trunk or under the seat. You’ve just shown anyone who’s around that you’ve just put stuff in your trunk or under the seat.
• Don’t leave accessories visible in your car. You may have taken the Laptop or IPod in with you, but if you leave the USB cables for your laptop or earbuds for the IPod in the back seat, the offender may think those items are in the car and break in anyway.
• GPS systems are being taken at an alarming rate. Think about how the GPS is mounted in your car. If the mounting for the GPS is visible, the thief may think the GPS is in the glove box or under the seat and may break in to try to get it. Have a removable mounting for the GPS and put that out of sight as well.
Until next time, Take Care and Stay Safe!
Mark Solomon, South Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator
Monday, November 03, 2008
South Precinct Email Community Newsletter November 3, 2008
Quite often, we’ll receive calls and emails asking us about an incident that neighbors saw or heard about. “What was all the police activity about over by ……?” “Why was there a helicopter up shining a spotlight all over my neighborhood?” “What happened with that one guy who did that one thing?” (Yes, sometimes the queries are that “specific.”) We understand that you want to know what’s happening in your neighborhood. We now have a way for you to get the information that you are looking for in a timelier manner. The Seattle Police Department has launched the SPD Blotter.
The SPD Blotter went on line in September 2008. It provides a near real-time recap of significant crime events. You can review events from all over the city, or look specifically at events in the police precinct area in which you are interested. You are able to review recent events, such as significant events that happened last night or over the weekend, and there is an archive feature that allows you to review previous events detailed in the SPD Blotter.
There are a number of ways you can get the SPD Blotter:
• You can go to the SPD website and view the latest entries on our home page.
www.seattle.gov/police.
• You can access the Blotter directly by going to its specific web address,
http://spdblotter.seattle.gov/.
• You can subscribe to the Blotter so that it automatically arrives to you via email. Go to http://feeds.feedburner.com/spdblotter to sign up for this feature.
Lighting and Storm Drains
You’re probably wondering what these have to do with crime prevention and public safety.
Lighting. When areas are not well illuminated, there is often a feeling that the area is not safe. Combine that with the number of car prowls that happened in darkened areas and it becomes more important to ensure that neighborhoods are well illuminated in the evening hours. If you have a streetlight that is out or not functioning properly on your block, report that to Seattle City Light Streetlight Repair at (206) 684-7056. Each utility pole has a number. When you report the malfunctioning light, give the pole number and the address nearest the pole (for example “It’s in front of 3212 22nd S”), or the nearest cross streets (“Near 22nd Ave S & S Hanford ST”). Better street lighting contributes to a feeling of safety and it works to reduce the incidents of theft and prowling because the potential criminal is more visible.
Storm Drains.
Clogged storm drains may not be a crime issue, but they are a public safety issue. Every year, we experience heavy rains in the November/December months and every year, leaves and debris clog storm drains. Streets and homes flood because there is nowhere for the massive amounts of water to go. There are things we can do to work to prevent street flooding (which impacts traffic) and water damage to homes like we’ve experienced in previous years:
1) Clean out storm drains. While you are out tending to the leaves that have fallen from your trees, take a few moments to tend to the leaves that may block storm drains.
2) If your block has storm drains that have grass and sod that have grown over them (as on my block,) contact Seattle Public Utilities at (206) 386-1800 to have clearing and maintenance performed. You can call this number for any street drainage issues, including flooding and drainage emergencies. Please don’t call 911 for flooding.
Until next time, Take Care and Stay Safe!
Mark Solomon, South Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator
The SPD Blotter went on line in September 2008. It provides a near real-time recap of significant crime events. You can review events from all over the city, or look specifically at events in the police precinct area in which you are interested. You are able to review recent events, such as significant events that happened last night or over the weekend, and there is an archive feature that allows you to review previous events detailed in the SPD Blotter.
There are a number of ways you can get the SPD Blotter:
• You can go to the SPD website and view the latest entries on our home page.
www.seattle.gov/police.
• You can access the Blotter directly by going to its specific web address,
http://spdblotter.seattle.gov/.
• You can subscribe to the Blotter so that it automatically arrives to you via email. Go to http://feeds.feedburner.com/spdblotter to sign up for this feature.
Lighting and Storm Drains
You’re probably wondering what these have to do with crime prevention and public safety.
Lighting. When areas are not well illuminated, there is often a feeling that the area is not safe. Combine that with the number of car prowls that happened in darkened areas and it becomes more important to ensure that neighborhoods are well illuminated in the evening hours. If you have a streetlight that is out or not functioning properly on your block, report that to Seattle City Light Streetlight Repair at (206) 684-7056. Each utility pole has a number. When you report the malfunctioning light, give the pole number and the address nearest the pole (for example “It’s in front of 3212 22nd S”), or the nearest cross streets (“Near 22nd Ave S & S Hanford ST”). Better street lighting contributes to a feeling of safety and it works to reduce the incidents of theft and prowling because the potential criminal is more visible.
Storm Drains.
Clogged storm drains may not be a crime issue, but they are a public safety issue. Every year, we experience heavy rains in the November/December months and every year, leaves and debris clog storm drains. Streets and homes flood because there is nowhere for the massive amounts of water to go. There are things we can do to work to prevent street flooding (which impacts traffic) and water damage to homes like we’ve experienced in previous years:
1) Clean out storm drains. While you are out tending to the leaves that have fallen from your trees, take a few moments to tend to the leaves that may block storm drains.
2) If your block has storm drains that have grass and sod that have grown over them (as on my block,) contact Seattle Public Utilities at (206) 386-1800 to have clearing and maintenance performed. You can call this number for any street drainage issues, including flooding and drainage emergencies. Please don’t call 911 for flooding.
Until next time, Take Care and Stay Safe!
Mark Solomon, South Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator