RAINIER VALLEY – Residents of several south Seattle neighborhoods are concerned about increasing reports of crime in their area. From burglaries to muggings, they are calling for City officials to do more to keep their streets safer. Members of the Mayor’s office, City Councilmembers Bruce Harrell and Nick Licata, along with officers from the South Precinct were at the standing room only event on Monday, February 6th.
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WOW! Looks like an awesome turnout! Can’t wait to watch this when I get a free moment this evening.
A good opening dialogue. SPD made a strong showing, they’re doing their best with the little resources they have. The bottom line: more officers need to be hired. Next mtg. hope to see a representative from Sound Transit talk strategy about crimes around the light rail corridor. And finally, it shouldn’t be like pulling teeth to get city councilmembers to attend, they make the budget decisions funding public safety.
This meeting was a programed event by City Hall and the Chief of Police. They really were not interested in hearing and responding to the needs and fears of the south end. The South Precinct does a wonderful job for us. The problem is they are out numbered and gunned by the bad guys.
Could the problem be that the city has placed the lion’s share of social services and low and subsidized housing in SE Seattle in their attempt at increasing housing density around Sound Transit stations to increase ridership. As I drive around SE I do notice that most of the ground level storefronts are empty. We get the social problems but do not get the services necessary to help with the problems.
The Chief of Police was there. This is the first time I have seen him at a SE meeting. Much of the meeting was focused on making his work as Chief to look good. He did admit to closing down the very successful police crime unit. We see him on TV being concerned about crime in other parts of the city. How is it that it took almost 3 years for him to find his way down South? I guess SE is just to far from his Issaquah home. The speakers were more concerned about telling us how well City Hall was solving our problems than listening to what the problems are.
It was noticeable that neither the Chief nor City Councilman Bruch Harrell recognized the South Seattle Crime Prevention Council and its president Pat Murakami, who was seated at the head table. At one time the SSCPC got administrative help from the city. When SSCPC started writing their own letters agendas and news releases, as opposed to allowing Seattle Neighborhood Group to dictate what was written, the administrative help was pulled. Nonetheless, SSCPC has continued living on donations and thousands of hours of volunteer work. To totally ignore their presence at the front table by Bruce and the Chief is an excusable slap in the face for all the years of service. The thousands of hours their members donated to make the SE a better safer place to live. I have heard their work as being the equivalent of 2 round the clock police officers at no cost to the city.
I wonder if the Chief and City Council members present noticed that this was one of the largest turnouts of SE Seattle citizens on record. When was the last time 500 citizens of SE came together at a meeting. Clearly there is concern for security and safety in SE. Did Diaz and Harrell get it? Did they understand we were not there to hear how well they were doing their jobs?
We were there to express concerns. For the most part, the crowd was not allowed to express their frustrations and fears. While our precinct officers offered suggestions as what can be done by the citizens, this meeting could and should have been much more, to listen to us and to train us to avoid and prevent the problems we all see.
KING5 says we’re going to get more officers: http://www.king5.com/news/crime/Rainier-Valley-additional-officers-138899144.html
They don’t usually have much to say about the south end.
Will the Rainier Valley get to keep the additional officers after the next Belltown, Pike Place Market or South Lake Union shooting?
Real Rainier Valley Girl Experience says: no. Beware of shell games.
Mostly likely they will be resources from another area temporarily reallocated to the Valley. Once it looks like the political pressure is off, they will go back where they came from.
Remember the big Rainier/Henderson emphasis that SPD and KCSO did a while back? Large visible presence on Rainier/Henderson, extra dedicated car, bike, and foot patrols? All borrowed resources from other shifts or other areas, which eventually had to be sent back where they came from.
“Extra” resources follow wherever the news has decided it will focus on as the latest “crime wave” or “public outcry” to increase ratings and airtime prices. Once public outcry dies down and the “news” media find something else/somewhere else to sensationalize, the added resources will move on or go back where they came from.
Real Rainier Valley Girl See above.
Real Rainier Valley Girl bottom of above post was a typo….sorry!
South Seattle Cop, Schell Games? Wasn’t that two mayors ago? Oh wait a minute, they all do that!.
All,
That is why we need to return to 2006 when we got the Council to commit to 105 new officers over five years. They hired about 30 a year for two years and then stopped. Yest times are difficult and revenues are being squeezed; however, the population of the City still grows, the number of calls SPD has to respond to grows. That, together with creative sentences, diversions, etc. after they are arrested does the most good. We can’t incarcerate our way out of our problems, but we can arrest our way out of them. Certanty of Cosequence (i.e. you will get reported by citizens NEARLY EVERY TIME, you will, at a minimum be detained and questioned to the extent the circumstances and evidence permit) is a heck of a lot better deterent than Severity of Consequence (i.e. you will get away with a burglary 99 times and then get two years on the 100th time when you are caught.)
I posted this on a different thread but I think that it is important enough to repost. Council Member Harrell left the meeting after giving his introduction. He is the chair of Public Safety for the city council.
I would urge all of you to email his office and ask why he didn’t want to listen to his constituents about the crime in their neighborhoods.
bruce.harrell@seattle.gov
I can’t find anything in the Times regarding 500 people showing up at a South Seattle meeting, but they have a story about 150 people showing up at a meeting at Seattle U.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2017450220_seattlepolice08m.html
It seems now, we want to be like Cincinnati. Why do our elected officials always want to be like another city?
Although I wish they were in another city.
I agree Mark B. Why do I often see tv news coverage of meetings elsewhere with sometimes just a handful of attendees and about less serious issues, but our monumental meeting has had little coverage?
So is the party being moved to the Mayor’s Town Hall event on Saturday?
We need a mob of people (adults, teens and kids) at the Sat meeting in Columbia City.
I just don’t get it. Why did people re-elect Sally and Bruce and then scratch their heads when they fail to live up to the expectations? This is not the first time he has displayed signs of not caring about what goes on. At this point I would rather have anyone in office except for them.
@12- Yeah!!!!
@14 Because they are very good at keeping their activist friends “in the funding.” The activists in turn turn out the vote. It’s a very sad situation.
Wait, what Saturday meeting? I’m not aware of that one…tell me more.
@SusanH
Here you go.
http://www.rainiervalleypost.com/mayor-to-host-town-hall-meeting-in-columbia-city/
Aha, I remember seeing that now.
Thanks, Mark B!
Well, Solvaygirl – when one lives in the RV, one just has to get used to the fact that the rest of Seattle – including and especially the local news media – is (a) completely ignorant about us RV folks and our lives, (b) is quick to draw unflattering conclusions about all of us based on the nearly-always negative news about us that does somehow manage to penetrate into their consciousness, and (c) doesn’t give a rat’s patootie what happens aroun’ here as long as ‘those people’ don’t venture north of I-90. Thus it is, thus has it ever been. All the more reason for all of us who live here to care for each other even more, and watch out for each other when the difficult times arrive.
Thank you, RVP, for linking to the meeting video. I was unable to attend Monday, and glad to have a window into what was said. Though I would have liked to have seen more time for Q&A, I was glad to see the SPD representatives present in force to let us know they, too, are aware of the scope of the issues.
Jerry Large at the Time wrote a column about the meeting
Excellent and accurate report. Jerry’s a pro.
The SPD picked up two yesterday – they’re probably back out on the street again though. That’s a big part of the problem.
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Cops-nab-burglars-13-and-15-in-Rainier-Valley-3249470.php
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