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The Q-Patrol returns amid LGBTQ-targeted crimes on Capitol Hill — OutWatch

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(Image: Q Safety Patrol Facebook page)

They might not have the same Guardian Angel roots, but the Q-Safety Patrol is back on Capitol Hill.

On Wednesday night, around 20 people gathered inside Dr. Jen’s House of Beauty on E Pike for the first meeting to resurrect the once prominent citizen safety brigade aimed at preventing gay-bashings and violence in Seattle’s gay neighborhoods. UPDATE: The group has also adopted a new name: OutWatch.

Dr. Jen’s owner Jennifer Dietrich, who was not a member of the original group, told CHS she decided to organize the meeting after a spate of violent attacks in the neighborhood, including a rape and an assault of a drag performer.

“I just stopped and said ‘this is not cool, that we can’t walk around our own neighborhood.’ We need to do something,” she said.

Dietrich said she hopes to have patrols rolled out as early as next week, using Dr. Jen’s as a home base. The plan is for members to walk Capitol Hill beats from 10 PM – 3 AM in groups of four, wear OutWatch shirts, and carry mace. Dietrich said she wants all members to receive some self defense training, but that having a public presence will be the most important deterrent to would-be criminals.

“We’re not a roaming pack of vigilantes,” she said. “It’s important that we report crimes to the police.”

Around 20 people gathered inside Dr. Jen's to discuss bringing back Q-Patrol (Photo: CHS)

Around 20 people gathered inside Dr. Jen’s to discuss bringing back Q-Patrol (Photo: CHS)

The group also discussed opening a phone line and social media channels so a “dispatcher” could help direct patrol actions.

For now, those interested in joining can stop into Dr. Jen’s or contact Dietrich directly.

A Dr. Jen’s employee, who asked to remain anonymous, said while she hoped the patrol would have an open and allied relationship with SPD, many in the LGBTQ community still felt unsafe around police. She said aggressive tactics used by police to disperse late-night revelers during the 2012 Pride Festival were still fresh on many people’s minds, prompting several people to join Wednesday night’s meeting. “We got it handed to us that night,” she said.

The original Q-Safety Patrol was formed in 1991 in response to a rash of gay bashings that organizers felt police were unwilling or incapable of preventing. The original group was trained by the New York City-based Guardian Angels and adopted their signature berets.

In 1996 an up-and-coming Lt. Jim Pugel, then running the East Precinct’s community policing team, gave credit to the group for drastically reducing reported hate crimes in the city. Precinct leaders more recently have been less keen on the idea saying that the patrols could put un-trained citizens at risk and spark confrontations.

According to data obtained by CHS, the King County Prosecutor’s office has filed 6 malicious harassment cases this year, putting the county on track for a rise in hate crime cases over recent years:

  • 2013: 9
  • 2012: 9
  • 2011: 7
  • 2010: 16
  • 2009: 11

During the 2010 spike in hate crimes, there were rumblings of a Q-Patrol revival. The most recent interest in bringing back Q-Patrol comes amid several reported LGBTQ-targeted incidents on Capitol Hill.

Drag performer Ade Connere told a reporter earlier this month that he was attacked for being in drag while walking near 13th and E Cherry. He said he didn’t report the crime to police because his last experience reporting a bashing to police “was more traumatic than the attack.”

Hernan Sarellana is charged in a July gay bashing where he allegedly asked a group if they were “faggots” then punched one on a Capitol Hill street-corner. Sarellana, 33, was charged with malicious harassment stemming from the incident that sent the victim to the emergency room with a head wound and seizure. Sarellena is out currently out on bail while his case moves through the courts.

Another Capitol Hill hate crime case is moving forward. Larry Figueroa was charged with malicious harassment and remains jailed on $15,000 bail following his arrest for a February attack on a man near Boylston and E Pine’s R Place. Prosecutors say the 51-year-old hit his victim and used an anti-gay slur in the incident at the 1500 block of Boylston Ave

The court proceedings for accused Neighbours arsonist Musab Musmari continue following the 30-year-old’s plea of not guilty to a charge of first degree arson. No hate crimes have been filed in the case.

Here’s how state statute defines felony malicious harassment:

(1) A person is guilty of malicious harassment if he or she maliciously and intentionally commits one of the following acts because of his or her perception of the victim’s race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or mental, physical, or sensory handicap:

(a) Causes physical injury to the victim or another person;

(b) Causes physical damage to or destruction of the property of the victim or another person; or

(c) Threatens a specific person or group of persons and places that person, or members of the specific group of persons, in reasonable fear of harm to person or property.

Words alone do not constitute malicious harassment unless the context or circumstances surrounding the words indicate the words are a threat. Threatening words do not constitute malicious harassment if it is apparent to the victim that the person does not have the ability to carry out the threat.

The city also has a misdemeanor felony harassment law that mimics the state law.

Mayor Ed Murray, a longtime Capitol Hill resident and Seattle’s first openly gay mayor, has voiced concerns about a perceived increase in crimes that target gay people.

Earlier this month CHS sat down with new East Precinct Captain Pierre Davis to talk, among other things, about the perceived uptick in violence aimed at the LGBTQ community. Davis said part of SPD’s strategy is to track repeat offenders, note when they come in and out of jail, and watch for crimes that match their known M.O. He also said he was committed to rolling out foot patrols in the neighborhood this year.

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21 Comments
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Rachael
Rachael
10 years ago

I was at the meeting last night. Thanks very much to Dr. Jen for hosting and starting this effort. I just wanted to point out, this program is to be called Out Watch and not Q Patrol.

Olivia
Olivia
10 years ago

We were not able to reach out to original members of Q Patrol for this meeting, but we would love any involvement or support from them or anyone else who would like to be involved. We’re in the process of setting up a web/social media presence, but in the meantime please come by Atomic Cosmetics at Boylston & Pike or email Dr Jen at [email protected]!

Noel
Noel
10 years ago

YAY!!! I am so glad they are back. Hopefully this additional presence will help with the rash of muggings happening in the area.

Sister Angela Merici
10 years ago

Have you thought of getting the mace with dye in it to mark any assailants that it is needed against?

BB
BB
10 years ago

That little key ring stuff will only piss off a mugger even more. You need all out bear spray to make them wish they were dead.

dringle
dringle
10 years ago

I dunno if crime watch is an activity for children :(

Andrew
Andrew
10 years ago

I feel like if the business community in Capitol Hill (the nightclub businesses especially) addressed these issues, a lot of the harassment and assaults could be prevented. The Hill has turned into a D-bag fest on weekends and is inviting to all kinds of assholes who have no idea that they might be in a historically gay community. It’s a shame on all fronts but if Capitol Hill wants to reclaim its lost culture the best place to start is with the bars and clubs who invite all the pricks to spend their money, and then turn them loose in drunken gangs.

BB
BB
10 years ago
Reply to  Andrew

The neighborhood has historically been many things. The gay part is just one of them. It’s moving on to something else now.

Janet
Janet
10 years ago

This is great news. Love and support.

Lawson
Lawson
10 years ago

That’s great that people are getting together and doing this.. I wonder why they are saying it’s q patrol coming back tho.. it sounds like something new and different, which is good, but if none of the originals are involved, different name, look, and carrying mace..it’s not q patrol, but something new and good :) just saying.. I was a member for a couple years in the late 90’s. Fun times, and got me of the streets.

Megan
Megan
10 years ago

Very excited to hear about Out Watch! Thanks to the wonderful people who put this in motion again! Thank you Thank you Thank you!

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[…] The perception is things are bad enough that we need Q-Patrol again — OutWatch is now patrolling the streets of Capitol Hill. […]

Temper Ruska-Roma
10 years ago

The Washington Hero Initiative has worked with numerous organizations on the Hill to provide free self-defense and situational awareness training.

We would be more than happy to do the same for OutWatch.

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[…] to the scene to treat the victims in the incident according to the 911 logs. The attack comes after renewed concerns about intolerance and anti-LGBTQ crimes in the […]

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[…] flush with enthusiasm, now they just need some feet on the ground. In March CHS reported on the formation of OutWatch at Dr. Jen’s House of Beauty, the group’s informal headquarters, following a spat of LGBT targeted street violence on […]

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[…] effort to create a new era version of the legendary Q-Patrol needs volunteers to get […]

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[…] The spring 2013 incident was part of a string of hate crimes and violent attacks reported around Capitol Hill that has lead to new efforts to speak out against intolerance and make the neighborhood’s streets safer. […]

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[…] first reported this spring on the effort to revive a new era Q-Patrol in the wake of anti-gay attacks and a sense of increased danger on the streets around Broadway […]

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[…] bathroom where we huddled together for warmth, trying to sleep. There was joining with the Q Street Patrol and sleeping with another volunteer on the floor of the […]