Many neighbors are aware of the recent spike in criminal activity in the neighborhood over the last year. Crimes range from graffiti to recent attempted armed robberies.
Unofficial year-to-date statistics show reported year-over-year residential burglaries are up 39 percent, car prowls are up 47 percent and auto thefts are up 78 percent in the “Charlie 3” sector that includes the area of north of East Union Street to the Montlake Cut and roughly east of 23rd and 24th avenues East to Lake Washington. This area includes the Washington Park Arboretum, Broadmoor, Canterbury, Denny-Blaine, Madison Park, Madison Valley and Madrona neighborhoods.
While crime is up across the city, we need to take ownership and action as a community, in partnership with the Seattle Police Department, in preventing crime and creating the reality that no level of crime will be tolerated in our neighborhood.
Tips to keep safe
What can you do? Below are some of the best practices from several community safety meetings held over the last few months:
•Call 911 first and foremost regarding any suspicious activity — “Suspicious” activity includes a specific crime in progress, someone is in physical danger or any activity that is suspicious to you -— this is what 911 is for.
It is always better to report than not. The sooner you call, the sooner first-responders can determine the appropriate course of action. especially if a crime is in progress.
•Report all crimes, including car prowls, even if nothing of value is taken — The more incidences that are reported to the police, the more police resources our neighborhood will get.
•Install and use door and window locks, motion-detecting floodlights and a security system, including cameras, if you can afford it — Arm the system in “home” mode even during the day and certainly at night. Arm it in “away” mode anytime you are leaving your home even if for a few minutes.
Add security signage visible from the front and back of your home.
•Get to know your neighbors — Start a neighborhood block watch and collect and distribute contact information.
Let trusted neighbors know if you are going out of town, even if for a couple days.
If you see people unfamiliar walking down the street, say “hi” or wave to let them know you have your eye on them. Don’t confront them directly.
•Never open your door for a stranger — Since many burglars knock on doors to ascertain whether anyone’s home, it is imperative you always answer the door. Talk through the door; don’t open it! By talking through the door, you can say you’re on a conference call, sick, in the middle of dinner, etc.
Home alone? Bluff! Yell out, “Honey, I’ll get it!” or whatever words you can use that might indicate there are others in the house.
Model this behavior with your kids. They may be home alone and find themselves in this situation. It is not rude to talk through the door, and it may save yourself a face-to-face encounter with a burglar.
•Contact the mayor and City Council to voice your dissatisfaction that our neighborhoods have only one police patrol car scheduled to regularly patrol the entire Charlie 3 sector.
•Install and use the City of Seattle’s “Find It, Fix It” app for anonymous reporting of non-urgent, quality-of-life crimes like graffiti, abandoned cars, illegal dumping, potholes, burned-out streetlights, etc. — The more we tolerate these crimes, the more inviting our neighborhood appears to more serious criminals, so we need to jump on these crimes ASAP.
•Contact Stacey Levitan at Stacey@winstonwachter.com or Nick Walter at nicholas.waltner@madisonparkcp.com if you have an interest in supporting extension of the private security service that currently patrols the Washington Park area.
•Join Nextdoor Madison Park (madisonpark.nextdoor.com) — Nextdoor is a good way to stay on top of crime and other issues impacting our neighborhood.
•Contact Terrie Johnson, the Seattle Police crime prevention coordinator, at terrie.johnston@seattle.gov or 206-233-0015 for a personal home-security assessment, to start a block watch program or to be added to her emails on neighborhood crime activity.
JOHN MADRID is a managing broker with John L. Scott Real Estate. To comment on this column, write to MPTimes@nwlink.com.