That was one of the questions posed to and answered by Captain Mike Washburn (below) of Seattle’s North Precinct tonight.
Tonight’s meeting was organized by Aram & Angela, neighbors who live in “Little Beirut” a section of Lake City near NE 132nd that has been plagued by prostitution, drug sales and violent crime.
The meeting was very well attended by over 80 people and included three representatives from Seattle Police (Captain Washburn, Officer Ken Turner, the Community Policing Officer for the Lake City area, and Diane Horswill, our rock star east of I-5 North Precinct Neighborhood Crime Prevention Specialist), Julin Loh from Mayor Greg Nickels’ office, representatives from Councilmember Sally Clark’s and Tim Burgess’ offices, and a number of community organizers (including Dave Morris from Olympic Hills who is standing next to Diane Horswill in the photo below). Seattle City Council candidates Jordan Royer (who lives in Wedgewood now but previously lived in the Lake City area) and David Miller (of Maple Leaf) also attended.
Seattle Police discussed their increased efforts to patrol the neighborhood and work with neighbors. Julien Loh from the mayor’s office announced a new effort to paint out graffiti in Lake City and Diane Horswill discussed Block Watch and encouraged neighbors to join together to take back the neighborhood.
Rather than write a massive post now, I am going to start a series of posts on what we as neighbors can do to make a difference. Watch this blog…
Thanks to all of you for your positive actions on the part of your neighborhood and our city. Educating ourselves about crime and prevention options, while keeping an eye out for each other through Block Watches and neighborhood action teams, are the keys to keeping our neighbors and ourselves safe.
I had a previous commitment on your meeting night, otherwise I would have been there with you. Supporting your work in your neighborhood is a high priority for me, and I look forward to meeting you in the near future.
Thanks for all you do!
Sally Bagshaw
Candidate for Seattle City Council
Position #4.
Excellent! Thanks for posting! I feel like it was a huge success. I hope everyone took home some inspiration and are starting with action on their own streets. We look forward to ways we can help our neighborhoods grow together.
Angela & Aram
lakecitycommunity@gmail.com
Fantastic work getting this meeting put together! We had problems with drug dealers in our park (Lake City Playground) about 5 years ago, and the North Precinct cops were quite effective in helping. We established a relationship with a detective and called him directly with info–we collected license plates #, car and people descriptions, and called info in to him regularly. They made a bust that summer and the dealers seemed to go elsewhere. It really does help to call, call , call, when you see illicit activities going on. Don’t expect immediate response. But know, they use the data you give the, and it really does help to work with the cops. And WALK the neighborhood in groups!