Showing posts with label neighborhood watch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label neighborhood watch. Show all posts

Friday, April 26, 2013

Community court offenders, volunteers work to clean up LCW

People sentenced by a judge to community service work to clean up Lake City's urban core.
People sentenced by a judge to community service work to clean up Lake City's urban core.


The sidewalks in the business core of Lake City are often disgusting. Newspapers and trash left by commuters blow around near bus stops, gum and other foul-looking things are ground into the concrete, car parts ejected from vehicles passing by on 522, and beer cans left by our neighborhoods' chronic inebriates often litter the area.

The unsightly scene can leave a quick and lasting bad impression of the Lake City business core, an area supposedly looking for an identity.

Sidewalks guaranteed to always be unsightly include the stretch in front of Romios, the Lake City Hair Salon, Dollar Plus, and Pho An. On the west side of the street, the area in front of Public Health's Lake City Dental Clinic and near the Lake City Mini Park is often a mess. The litter problem around the bus stops, and in front of those businesses, has been discussed at many neighborhood meetings. Unfortunately, nothing seems to have changed.

But one group of people are working to change that —on orders from a judge.

The Seattle Municipal Community Court offenders program worked recently on the Lake City Way business core. They cleaned up trash and worked to beautify the neighborhood. They picked up bottles, cans, and gathered a number of used hypodermic needles from flower pots in the business core on Lake City Way. Future plans call for adding bark to trees and gardens.

Led by service workers from Americorps, who supervise the offenders, and longtime Lake City resident Chuck Dickey, the crew heads out every two weeks. They have gathered large bags of garbage, trimmed overgrown vegetation on public rights of way, picked up the dangerous mess left by drug users, and worked to clean up after people that may have missed the lesson in kindergarten about not littering.

Dickey, a member of the Lake City Lions Club, said that the courts are sending fewer offenders to participate in the program recently, but that they can almost always be guaranteed to be working around Lake City on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month.

Judges can sentence the offenders to complete the program for minor offenses like stealing and drug possession. The program works to keep these low-level offenders out of jail and also helps beautify an area that often struggles with an apparently messy population and apparent lack of stewardship from some business owners and property managers.

Dickey admitted that sometimes Lake City can look run down and neglected. And an increase in empty storefronts makes the problem worse.

The offenders, staff and volunteers from Community Court have painted out graffiti and have also painted murals around the Lake City Community Center.

Tracy Lamont of Americorp, who helps supervise people sentenced to community service, and longtime Lake City resident Chuck Dickey clean up alongside community court offenders.
Tracy Lamont of Americorp, who helps supervise people sentenced to community service, and longtime Lake City resident Chuck Dickey clean up alongside community court offenders in front of the shuttered Rimrock on LCW.


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Sunday, December 2, 2012

Armed robber strikes Lake City XXX store


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 From the Seattle Police Department:

A masked, armed robber remains at large today after striking in Lake City early Sunday morning. About 4 a.m. a man wearing a bandana over his face walked into the XXX Theater/Store, 12706 Lake City Way NE, and pointed a silver revolver at the clerk behind the counter.

The suspect demanded money and was given the cash from the register. There was a party going on down stairs and those attending were unaware of the robbery taking place upstairs. The suspect walked out of the front door and fled northbound. Nobody was injured during the incident.

Officers responded to the area and conducted a search with the assistance of a canine unit, however the suspect remains at large.

The suspect is described as a Hispanic male in his mid 20′s, approximately 5’06” tall.

Anyone with information about this incident or who may know the identity or whereabouts of the suspect is asked to call 911 or Seattle Police and refer to this incident. Anonymous tips are welcome.

Friday, November 16, 2012

Truck stolen from Fred Meyer parking lot


A truck was stolen from a member of our community on Thursday night during a trip to Fred Meyer. The truck was taken from the Fred Meyer parking lot.

It is a black 1994 Nissan, license plater B61438S. There is an 80s "Magic Happens" sticker on the rear bumper.

If you see the truck please call 911. 

UPDATE:  The truck was found by Seattle Police in Wallingford, with "very little damage," said the owner. "A big thank you to everyone in the hood who was on the lookout. I appreciate your support."

Thursday, September 27, 2012

New tool to monitor police dispatch calls for neighborhood, via Twitter

A sample of the feed from Sept. 27
UPDATE: The Twitter data we used here via the Seattle Police Department is now featured on the front page of the New York Times. You can read their take on how this will benefit Seattle neighborhoods here.

The City of Seattle has won a number of awards for the open data set it offers to residents. Information is usually easily available via our tech savvy city government —assuming one is also tech savvy.

Now the Seattle Police Department has launched a tool that uses Twitter to disseminate information about Seattle Police dispatch calls.

There is a bit of a delay but most of the calls we have seen posted to Twitter are within one hour of the initial 911 call.

From the Tweets by Beat website:

In order to protect crime victims, officers, and the integrity of investigations, calls will display one hour after a dispatcher sends the call to an officer. The feeds also do not include information about domestic violence calls, sexual assaults, and other certain types of crimes. 

Douglas Park Cooperative has taken the information coming from the Seattle Police Department dispatch and created a custom feed for our own neighborhood that will be featured on the right column of our website.

The feed featured on DPC is for Lincoln 1 sector, the area north of 125th and east of Interstate 5.

So next time you see flashing police lights down the street all you have to do is come to our homepage to figure out what is going on. Also on our right column is a link to monitor Seattle Fire Department dispatch and yet another link to listen to a live police and fire scanner for Seattle.

Feeds for other neighborhoods can easily be monitored by going to the Tweets by Beat website and searching for a feed by address.




Wednesday, August 8, 2012

PHOTOS: Douglas Park Cooperative Night Out Block Party

Neighborhood kids get to turn on the lights on Seattle Police Officer Kip Strong's patrol car at the Douglas Park Cooperative Night Out Block Party.
Our annual neighborhood Night Out Block Party was a success. About 100 neighbors came out over the course of the evening and spent time meeting their neighbors, enjoying some food, and appreciating their community. The street was decorated with sidewalk chalk art, people roasted marshmallow in the fire pit, and connections were made among neighbors.

We hope to do at least one more neighborhood gathering at Virgil Flaim Park so if you missed the Block Party you still have more chances to come out and meet neighbors. Just keep an eye out here on the blog, on our Facebook page or on on our email list serve* for details about future gatherings.

*To be added to the email list send a message to douglasparkcooperative@gmail.com


People gather around a fire at the Douglas Park Cooperative Night Out Block Party.

Food is grilled

Neighborhood kids have some fun

Grilling

Meeting neighbors

Many generations of neighbors came out for the celebration.

Fun on the teeter totter

Kids get to look in the back of Officer Strong's patrol car.


Sidewalk chalk art

Meeting a neighborhood dog

Discussing issues

Relaxing around the campfire

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Nuisance behaviors in our neighborhood, visual proof

As Douglas Park Cooperative members do our twice-weekly walks we encounter many dangerous, disgusting and downright destructive things done by people in our community that either do not seem to have a stake in our community or do not have respect for our community —and often respect for themselves.

We have taken to documenting some of the things we encounter. These photos are a small sampling of some of the things we have seen in recent weeks. There are many, many more but we do not photo document everything. We also realize that taking pictures of chronic inebriates or drug users could lead to confrontation that we have deemed is wise to avoid.

Below is a sampling of what we regularly see. Keep in mind that we conduct two weekly litter patrols and folks at the UGM shelter also conduct one per week. Other neighborhood groups also conduct patrols and find similar things.

Likely one of the most disturbing was when we found at least four unsecured hypodermic needles in the parking lot of the Seattle Gymnastics Academy, a place that students are likely to run barefoot to their cars after class.

The focus of DPC from day one has been nuisance behaviors, not the often troubled people that are known to do them. That responsibility is more in line with what the Seattle Police Department contributes to our mission. That is why we are pursuing the Alcohol Impact Area as a small part of the complicated puzzle that will better our community.

We potentially have a great neighborhood and DPC wants to help everyone succeed in reaching their potential and overcome their struggles. However, these nuisance behaviors and their results bring down everyone.

 

Needles outside Cedar Park senior apartments

One of the dozens of hypodermic needles found in the neighborhood
A collection of empties on the street
Scene after a stabbing at the 99¢ Etc. store

Shoplifting suspects captured by camera at ACE Hardware

Elliott Bay Brewing Co. is welcomed to the neighborhood
Graffiti in front of Seattle Gymnastics Academy

Another needle in a neighbor's hedge

Shopping cart full of trash and beer cans

More vandalism at the dead end of 28th Ave NE near Seattle Gymnastics Academy

Four Loko cans in Elliot Bay Brewing doorway

Bag used for drugs

Truck vandalized with pink paint stolen from shed at Seattle Gymnastics Academy

Loitering, drinking with about 6 empties at the Chevron gas station


Warning: After this point the images become quite offensive and disgusting. Continue at your own discretion.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Neighborhood home burglarized while occupied early today, suspect arrested


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About 5:30 a.m. this morning a woman in our neighborhood discovered a man in her house. She confronted him and he responded “I’m in the wrong house!” and left.

The woman called police and officers found the man about a block and a half from the residence.

As the suspect was being detained, officers found some of the victims property in the man's possession. She was later able to positively identify him as the man she saw in her house.

The 48 year old man was arrested and booked into the King County Jail for Investigation of Burglary.  North Precinct Burglary detectives responded to the scene and processed the scene as part of their investigation.

This is another in a string of recent burglaries of North Seattle homes that are occupied at the time of the burglary. Recently officers arrested a teenager with a long history of crime in connection with some of the occupied burglaries.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Disturbing residential burglaries on the rise in North Seattle

You have likely seen the headlines. Burglaries are on the rise in North Seattle.

But most concerning to residents and authorities is the method of these crimes.

Many are happening late at night, while the residents are home.

In the early morning hours of March 6th, three home were burglarized within a few block radius. The method in all seemed similar and was done while residents were home.

In one burglary, an adult female resident in the 4200 block of Meridian Ave North was woken by a voice yelling, “Let’s go.”  She then heard what sounded like footsteps running down the outside stair case.  After she  checked the house she realized the suspects stole car keys and personal electronics. The car was not taken.

Twenty minutes after calling 9-1-1, officers and burglary detectives responded. They discovered that the point of entry was an unlocked back door.

In another burglary a man was home with his wife and two young children while their home was burglarized.  Personal electronics, car keys and the victim's car were stolen. The vehicle is a gray 2011 Audi A4, WA license ADZ8091. (If you see the vehicle please call 9-1-1.)

On March 5th another home was burglarized in Wedgewood. A 2004 Toyota was stolen from that home.

And on March 3rd three homes were broken into. Personal electronics and a green 2005 Acura MDX, WA license AFV-9085 was also stolen. In all of these the residents were home at the time.

This trend is unnerving as eventually a homeowner will wake up and a confrontation will likely happen with the burglars.

Most of these incidents involve unlocked doors and windows. Some involve the burglars breaking windows and doors to gain entry.

To reduce the likelyhood that your home will be entered, lock all doors and windows during the day and at night. Also, keep electronics and valuables away from windows and visible areas that might invite a crime.