Notes from the East Precinct community crime meeting

It's not every month that the East Precinct Crime Prevention Coalition meeting features a giant sheet cake.The community group said goodbye to Paul McDonagh Thursday night. McDonagh has been promoted to Assistant Chief in charge of special operations and Captain Jim Dermody has taken his place as East Precinct Commander.

The East Precinct Crime Prevention Coalition meetings are a monthly opportunity to get together with SPD and the city attorney's office and talk about crime and safety in the area east of I-5.

Thursday night's finished with cake but started on a much more somber note with a moment of silence to honor the officers killed in Pierce County. McDonagh said that more information will come out about what happened that Sunday morning. "To say the officers were heroes is going to be an understatement," he said. He also credited witnesses to the shooting for doing a tremendous job that helped identify the escape vehicle, eventually leading police to name Maurice Clemmons as the suspect.

The SWAT standoff that started later on Sunday evening in Leschi was a lengthy item of discussion. As Central District News reported this morning, a family's home was destroyed during that operation, and SPD Director John Hayes said that he spent a big part of the day at the house helping the family complete the necessary paperwork to apply for reimbursement from the city. 

As for the damage inside the house, which the family and other community members have said was excessive, McDonagh said that they SPD did what was necessary to protect officer's lives in a dangerous situation, but that he couldn't speak to damage that might have been done by other agencies.

On the murder of Officer Tim Brenton, McDonagh said that officers were "overwhelmed by the appreciation and support from the community." He also said that although the investigation was very complex, police are "very very confident that Monfort was THE suspect."

There was also news from the law side of the law and order discussions. Bob Hood, Chief of the Seattle City Attorney's Office, said he will likely not be continuing in his role 'due to the results of the election.' As part of out-going City Attorney Tom Carr's team, Hood helped create the Drug Market Initiative underway in the East Precinct. Hood said the DMI will 'probably' continue under the next City Attorney, Peter Holmes.

Other crime updates:

• Burglary Arrest - Monday morning in Montlake, where a 17 year old juvenile female was arrested as a result of a neighbor's call to 911. A male accomplice is at large and the female is not cooperating, but police hope that a car they recovered might provide some clues.
• 9th & Columbia shooting - Detectives are making "Pretty good progress" in the case where a CD man was killed, hopefully good news soon.
• Capitol Hill shooting - From two weeks ago at Union & Boylston - The victim is being cooperative. He's a convicted felon under DOC supervision, but Capt. Dermody says "thank goodness there were no other innocents who were hurt"
• Pedestrian Safety - Be extra safe on foot during these dark rainy nights. Several bad car/pedestrian accidents in the last couple of days.
• Carprowls - Are way up during the holidays. Don't leave any valuables in your vehicle

Thanks to Scott at Central District News for providing additional coverage of the meeting.