A Rainy Day in Seattle's East Precinct

[haha]

Last night I stopoped by my local Safeway and noticed an SPD officer standing where he could watch and be seen near the checkout area. I usually take the presence of a professional off duty cop at a retail store as an overall bad sign of how things are going in the neighborhood, since this one policeman must cost at least as much per hour as all the checkers working late.

I talked to the manager and he said no shooting or stabbing, but just a little more bad behavior than the checkers were comfortable with.

So I looked at a brief section of my local precinct report from yeserday-

From a rainy January day in Seattle's East Precinct:

11:31AM - 331 Bellevue E. - Disturbance - Caller let a guest in to spend the night, and now the guest is refusing to leave

1:50PM - 511 Boylston Ave - Narcotics Activity - Overdose at Tashkent Park

2:55PM - Broadway & E. Pine - Disturbance - Man in QFC called 911 to report being harassed by another man in the store

2:56PM - 1400 S. Lane - Theft - Female at the front desk of Goodwill says that her classmates stole $ out of her purse after she gave them a ride

3:16PM - 23rd E. & E. Madison - Accident - Blocking, with injuries

4:30PM - 500 22nd Ave - Property Damage - A resident with schizophrenia is off his meds and broke a window in the common area

4:32PM - E. Denny Way & Melrose Ave E - Assault - A male is shoving a female

5:31PM - Harvard E. & E. Harrison - Assault - Man assaulted by another man who entered a nearby apartment afterwards. The assailant was accompanied by a dark pit bull.

I guess some of these folks need a vacation to Cozumel

Ha

[W2R]

Sounds pretty peaceful to me. I know it is probably more than you are used to, but it sounds idyllic from here.

Yesterday five murders were reported in New Orleans within the 2-3 hours before the evening news. Although I think they were all street murders (don't recall), still none were thought to be related. I think there had been a couple more earlier in the day. All of this is in a town of only about 250,000 population these days, with an understaffed, underpaid police department that has huge internal problems.

There were more murders in the suburbs, naturally.

Frank and I know that many other cities do not have this much crime. Crime is one of a number of reasons why we want to move, eventually, and many others have already moved.

[bbbamI]

Well, I think I'm gonna take this opportunity to say my city was recognized as the safest city in Texas for 2009.

[aaronc879]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R Yesterday five murders were reported in New Orleans within the 2-3 hours before the evening news.

Wow, those 5 murders equal the total number of murders in 30 years in the cities i've lived in in the upper midwest.

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R Sounds pretty peaceful to me. I know it is probably more than you are used to, but it sounds idyllic from here.

I agree, it is pretty peaceful. I just felt it was funny.

Ha

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haha I agree, it is pretty peaceful. I just felt it was funny. Ha

It was funny!! I especially liked the one about someone's overnight guest refusing to leave the next day. Pretty odd!

[haha]

That was my favorite too. "You don't really want me to leave. After all the fun we had..."

Over time a large number of these calls are man-woman disagreements. Or man-man or woman-woman. A bit less domestic harmony than is typically experienced by our forum members.

Ha

[Brat]

Indeed a rainy day, but that beats snow and ice. The following is from my local news blotter, :

Jan 9:
Drunken kayackers: While drinking beers and watching a college football game, two men on Bainbridge had a bright idea: hop in kayaks and paddle to Seattle. At night. In January.

They made it all the way across – with the help of rescue crews. At about 2 a.m. on Friday, emergency responders got a call that one of the kayakers had capsized.

The 28-year-old man was clinging to the side of his kayak while his friend, a 36-year-old, used a cell phone to call a girlfriend, who, in turn, called 911, said Seattle Fire Department spokeswoman Dana Vander Houwen.

On-shore firefighters with binoculars spotted faint flickering lights about 2 miles off from the Magnolia area of Seattle. The men were were brought to shore on the Seattle fireboat Leschi.

The 28-year-old was suffering from hypothermia after spending about 45 minutes in the water. He was excruciatingly cold and could barely speak, according to Seattle police. The older man was also cold and wet from rain, but conscious and alert. Police said both men had the strong odor of beer on the two.

The men were wearing life jackets but were dressed in street clothes.

Jan. 1

Hit-and-run: A Bainbridge male was cited for hit-and-run after his Saturn car crashed into and damaged a log retaining wall on Lafayette Avenue near Fay Bainbridge State Park. Police found the suspect’s license plate and other debris from his car at the scene. When police contacted the suspect, he blamed the crash on an unknown woman he had allowed to drive his car. The suspect said he met the woman at a Winslow coffee shop on New Year’s Eve. He knew very little about the woman and said she disappeared from his home after he passed out. He said his recollections of the evening were “hazy,” and could describe few details about the crash. He also made contradictory statements about the woman, leading police to believe the woman was fictitious and that he was driving his car alone. Because the suspect’s story seemed “implausible”, and has a history of drinking and driving, police also cited the suspect for making false statements to an officer.

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R Yesterday five murders were reported in New Orleans within the 2-3 hours before the evening news. Although I think they were all street murders (don't recall), still none were thought to be related. I think there had been a couple more earlier in the day. All of this is in a town of only about 250,000 population these days, with an understaffed, underpaid police department that has huge internal problems. There were more murders in the suburbs, naturally. Frank and I know that many other cities do not have this much crime. Crime is one of a number of reasons why we want to move, eventually, and many others have already moved.

OK! Though we have been to N.O. several years ago and obviously survived the stay, I guess I have to rethink my plan about an extended stop there in my future RV. So, where is the next best place for Cajun food?

By the way, a poster in another thread said Phoenix was a high-crime area. Gee, I have never felt the need to sleep with a S&W 357, but in N.O., I dunno.

[W2R]

You'll be fine in any hotel in the French Quarter area, especially if you take a cab rather than walk after dark. The French Quarter is the tourist area and is very well policed. Very few tourists ever see the residential parts of the city anyway.

RV's? I wonder if there are any RV parks anyplace convenient to the Quarter. It doesn't seem likely since the Vieux Carre Commission is very stern about anything disturbing the historical structures, milieu, and even paint colors.

New Orleans has always had a high crime rate. This is nothing new. The actual crime rate is higher than the official crime rate (always has been) because there is some stretching of the truth that goes on. But the economy is based on tourism.

[NW-Bound]

I remember staying in a hotel just south of Lake Pontchartrain, then drove to the French Quarter. We did not wander around the city much. Just kidding about the crime and the gun though.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound I remember staying in a hotel just south of Lake Pontchartrain, then drove to the French Quarter. We did not wander around the city much. Just kidding about the crime and the gun though.

I don't know of any hotels just south of Lake Ponchartrain, in New Orleans though I'm not saying there aren't any. Frank's family lives near the lake so I thought I was pretty familiar with that area. Oh well. Maybe you were in the suburbs? Or, maybe it is a matter of the definition of "near" (or "just south"). The Quarter is on the river.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haha Female at the front desk of Goodwill says that her classmates stole $ out of her purse after she gave them a ride

What a story!! Her classmates must be amazingly awful.

[NW-Bound]

It has been several years (10?). The hotel was definitely north of the city, near a freeway, as I remembered. The reason I thought we were just south of the Lake was that driving around near the hotel, we saw the bridge and decided to drive across the lake as a day trip. Then went east, and finally turned around near Biloxi.


PS. Just now looking at a map. Metairie was where we stayed, and it was not directly north of the French Quarter.

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R Sounds pretty peaceful to me. I know it is probably more than you are used to, but it sounds idyllic from here. Yesterday five murders were reported in New Orleans within the 2-3 hours before the evening news. Although I think they were all street murders (don't recall), still none were thought to be related. I think there had been a couple more earlier in the day. All of this is in a town of only about 250,000 population these days, with an understaffed, underpaid police department that has huge internal problems. There were more murders in the suburbs, naturally. Frank and I know that many other cities do not have this much crime. Crime is one of a number of reasons why we want to move, eventually, and many others have already moved.

How many murders do you have in a year? If yesterday was typical, you are likely in the class with many Latin Am countries, even some Carribean ones too.

I wandered off into an out of the way area and wound up over behind Charity Hospital at dark. Somebody chased me, but luckily I was still young enough that I could move pretty well and got away. I had started out walking away from the river on Poydras.

After that I stayed pretty much in the Quarter, although I was staying at some hotel up on Canal St. Can't remember, the Clarion maybe? As I remember I just walked away from the Quarter up Canal for few blocks and I was home. I don't get drunk, or even silly. I always like to be able to see and hear. And I'm already dumb enough when I am sober. Most interesting time of day around there was afternoon when the high schools students were on the street!

I like the feel of the city, but like you I would have trouble with the extreme crime and the storm danger, and in my case, the heat and humidity.

Ha

[CuppaJoe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haha .... Disturbance - Caller let a guest in to spend the night, and now the guest is refusing to leave ries

My neighborhood is so safe that when a neighbor tried to throw out a former girlfriend and dialed 911, five squad cars showed up.

[Brat]

We don't have five squad cars if the entire force showed up. Our police maintain very good relationships with the police in the neighboring community and the State Police for back up.

[yakers]

The title sounded like the opening line from Prairie Home Companion.

Haines Alaska

From the newspaper police blotter:
Mon. Jul. 28. A person reported two bikes had been left at their business over a week. A person reported finding juveniles camped on their property and reported the young people were angry and shinning a strobe light into the house. Sun Jul. 27 A person reported a bear had eaten five ducks in their yard on Oslund Drive. The caller attempted to scare away the bear by banging pots and pans, but said the bear returned within 10 minutes.

The Chilkat Valley News, Haines Alaska




Above is an excerpt from our arctic blog (Driving to the Arctic

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brat We don't have five squad cars if the entire force showed up. Our police maintain very good relationships with the police in the neighboring community and the State Police for back up.

We are talking Bainbridge Island here. Kind of like Beverly Hills with boat docks. (Does Berkeley Breathed still live there?)

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed_The_Gypsy We are talking Bainbridge Island here. Kind of like Beverly Hills with boat docks. (Does Berkeley Breathed still live there?)

(Nope. His web site says he lives in SoCal now. Got tired of the rain, I imagine. )