Category Archives: Crime

City of Seattle looking for new site for Seattle Police Department’s North Precinct

The current North Precinct in the Northgate area. Photo via Google Street View.

The City of Seattle is starting to search for a new site for the Seattle Police Department’s North Precinct. The current site, wedged in a neighborhood near North Seattle Community College, and built in 1984, was designed for 184 staff. It now houses 254 staff and is badly overcrowded.

“In September 2012, as part of the budgeting process, Mayor Mike McGinn proposed doing the planning required in 2013 to acquire land for a new station in 2014. The City Council accepted the Mayor’s proposal and accelerated the schedule by moving funding from 2014 to 2013,” said Detective Renee Witt in a post on the SPD Blotter.

Work is now under way to find and purchase a site for a new station by December 2013, as well as assemble an architecture and engineering team so building pre-design can begin this year, instead of waiting for purchase of an actual site.

Lake City may be a prime spot for the precinct with easy highway access, swaths of land ready for development and a concern for crime in the neighborhood.

Seattle Police hosting drug take back event this Saturday, April 27th

The Seattle Police Department is hosting a drug take back event on Saturday, April 27th. The event for North Seattle will be held at the North Precinct, 10049 College Way N. You can drop off unused prescription drugs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

The event is designed to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding homes of potentially dangerous, expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.

From SPD:

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the family medicine cabinet. In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medications – flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash – both pose potential safety and health hazards.

Window smashed at Bean City Coffee

The shamrock, a symbol of good luck, seems to have had an object thrown through it at Bean City Coffee.

Bean City Coffee, a small coffee shop on LCW that is developing a cult-like following for their fresh coffee and friendly owner, had a front window busted out in recent days.

Glass was cleaned up by a neighboring business owner after he discovered the shattered window. Businesses there have suffered burglaries and vandalism in recent years.

Loyal customers have emailed Lake City Live and contacted us on social media, asking what happened and when the business will reopen. We have called the business and emailed their contact email address and will update this post when we find out.

Bean City is a small shop that is known for roasting its own beans in small batches. Kripa D., a reviewer on Yelp said, “The beans are roasted in a contraption designed by the owner that is pieced together from parts of a toaster oven, an electric pasta maker, and other scraps of machinery.

A sign in front of the business.

“This shop has become a place for people to come and get to know the other people in Lake City. You won’t see people keeping to themselves here. Every time you come here you will make a new friend, until you know all the regulars, and then… You’ll have a place to go to see your friends!”

We hope to soon see Bean City’s doors open soon, with its regular customers hanging out in front of the business.

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.

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, and Dollar Plus. 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, trash 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, 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 increases the problem.

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 in front of the shuttered Rimrock on LCW.

Follow Lake City Live on Facebook here for updates in your Facebook feed. Follow us here on Twitter for the latest and for breaking neighborhood news.

SPD: Man shot in buttocks on 32nd Ave, second time man shot

A man was shot in the buttocks on Thursday night on 32nd Avenue NE near NE 140th Street.

Seattle Police gang detectives are investigating the shooting that happened about 11:15 p.m. on Thursday. Police received a tip that a man was shot and was en-route to Harborview Medical Center.

When detectives found the man at Harborview he said he was “walking near Little Brook Park when someone in a car shot at him, striking him in his rear,” said Seattle Police spokesman Jonah Spangenthal-Lee.

Police said this is the second time that the man has been shot in Lake City in the last two years.

“This time, he told detectives he has no idea why anyone would want to shoot him, as he is working, going to school, and attempting to put his past troubles behind him,” said Spangenthal-Lee.

A map of where the shooting took place is below.

View Larger Map

Theft rate at Grocery Outlet, Fred Meyer alarming

The Lake City Grocery Outlet. Photo courtesy Seattlepi.com, used with permission

The Seattle P-I has a report that Lake City’s Grocery Outlet is suffering from significant losses due to theft. The losses are partly blamed on Seattle’s plastic bag ban, which encourages customers to bring in their own bags. It has proven difficult for store owners to track items that people have in the bags they bring into stores.

Since the bag ban took effect, Grocery Outlet owner Mike Duke said theft of frozen foods and produce have increased significantly. Traditionally those are items a thief “wouldn’t put down their pants,” said a store employee.

Representatives of Fred Meyer were quoted recently as saying that the theft rate at the store was the highest in the multi-state chain.

Some of the theft has also been blamed on the chronic inebriates, drug users and transients that linger in the area. But business owners have been reluctant to go on the record with that for fear of appearing anti-homeless. But in recent days, a contributor for Lake City Live witnessed two incidents of theft by chronic inebriates that are regulars in front of the Post Office and the 99-cent stores.

You can read more of the P-I report on the alarming shoplifting rate in Lake City here.

North Precinct Advisory Council meeting notes

The LCNA North Precinct Liason, Steve D., has been attending the North Precinct Advisory Council meetings. Below is his report back from the January and February meetings: January was quiet at NPAC, so I decided to couple it with February. January

Dennis, the drug sniffing dog was the keynote. 3year old yellow lab. Knows 19,000 explosive odors. Flunked out of guide dog school due to being too curious. Has to earn 100% on his recertification test every year. 99% means back to school.
Jana Jorgensen, City Attorney says the Orion hotel signed an agreement with the city and has 180 days to correct the illegal behavior going on there or face stiff penalties as part of Chronic Nuisance Abatement Agreement. SPD has been by and said it is “a ghost town.”
Judy Lewis with liquor board says they continue to work with feds on marijuana guidelines. If you go to Portland and purchase more than 6 cases of liquor, expect a visit from State Patrol or liquor board.

February:

Sgt. Sean Whitcomb, who runs SPD’s Blotter http://spdblotter.seattle.gov/ was the keynote. Blotter is designed to get information directly to citizens, NOT to control the news. Blotter works with neighborhood blogs as well as reporting criminal activity around the city. If you have not checked out the Blotter, it is well worth your time.
Tweet By Beat - if you go here on SPD’s web site, or just Google it, you can go to a box entitled “find your precinct and beat” and type in your address. It will link you to tweets by officers in your neighborhood. There is up to an hour delay, UNLESS there is an emergency (shooting, robbery, etc) then it goes on real time. You do not need a twitter account to access this.
Seattle Districts Now http://www.seattledistrictsNow.org representative spoke and are proposing a change from at-large elections of City Council, to a mixed districts/at-large system. The goal is to gather 31,000 signatures and get this initiative on the ballot in 11/13. Go to the web site and check out the maps. The districts were drawn by Dr. Richard Morill from UW. By federal law, they are all withing 1% population from one and other. Go to the website for more information.
Jana Jorgensen, City Attorney, spoke about car camping. There is a Mayoral council looking at this. If you have car campers in your neighbor hood you are encouraged to send any information including photos, behavior descriptions and license plate numbers to Jana at jana.jorgensen@seattle.gov When business owners speak up it is especially powerful.
King County Prosecutor is working on the following: Move gun crime prosecution for minors from currently 5 convictions before jail time, to 2 convictions. Increase the protection order for stalking victims. Look at compensation for people how were convicted and later found innocent, not released on legal issues, but actually found to be innocent.
NPAC Officers are starting a campaign to actively recruit new members including churches. That’s on the agenda for March, along with a visit from Nick Lacata.

The notes from the NPAC Secretary are available here and here as well.

Crime & Safety Meeting to Engage Disabled Community

As part of the Seattle Police Department’s plan for community engagement, the public is invited to participate in a facilitated discussion focused on the following five questions:

What is your top concern about crime and public safety in the disability community?
What can be done together to create a safer community?
What is going well with the relationship between the disability community and SPD?
What needs to improve?
What steps can we take to keep you engaged in building and creating a safer community?

This is a great opportunity to engage with our North Precinct officers regarding the impact of crime and public safety for some of our most vulnerable populations. Wednesday, January 9, 2013, 6-7:30 p.m. Northgate Library 10548 Fifth Ave. N.E. On Bus Routes: 16, 41, 66, 67, 68, 75, 242, 347, 348 ASL Provided. Please refrain from use of heavy fragrances. To RSVP or to request an accommodation, email Felicia.Yearwood@Seattle.gov or call 206-684-4537.

Pedestrian Fatality on Lake City Way

In a sad turn to this busy holiday season, a pedestrian trying to cross Lake City Way on December 26th, was struck by a vehicle and died. From the Seattle Police Blotter:

“A Saturn Ion was travelling north in the 11000 Block of Lake City Way NE. At the same time, an adult male attempted to cross Lake City Way in front of the car, when he was struck. Seattle Fire and Seattle Police both responded to the scene. The 55-year-old pedestrian was transported to Harborview Medical Center via Medics, but unfortunately he died of his injuries a short while after arriving at the hospital. The 23-year-old male driver, the only occupant of the car, was evaluated at the scene by a Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) officer, which is standard procedure. There were no signs of impairment exhibited by the driver.” Another pedestrian was struck in a hit and run on December 20th along 30th Ave NE at 135th. Pedestrian and traffic safety are ongoing concerns for many area residents. The Lake City Neighborhood Alliance (a coalition of community groups in the greater Lake City area) has been working to raise awareness of these and other neighborhood issues. Several city officials recently attended walking tours of the Lake City neighborhood, where pedestrian safety was one of many topics discussed. On December 27th, the city announced a new Lake City Way Traffic Safety Corridor Project. This project is described by Seattle Dept. of Transportation (SDOT) as “a multi-year effort to improve traffic safety for all on Lake City Way/State Route 522.” The project aims to reduce collisions along Lake City Way by 25%, through a combination of public education, increased enforcement efforts and community-identified street improvements. A meeting to launch this safety effort is scheduled for Wednesday, January 16th from 2:30-4:00pm at the Lake City Community Center (located at 12531 28th Ave NE). If you’d like to learn more, or participate in this effort, please contact us at info@familiesforlakecity.com.

Armed robber strikes Lake City XXX store

View Larger Map

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.