The Seattle Police Department has released its reports on 2017 crime showing “a continued overall downward trend in crime in Seattle.” CHS took a look behind the numbers and found a similar overall direction for Capitol Hill and across the neighborhood’s East Precinct where you were much more likely to be punched, even more likely to be burgled, but less likely to be robbed or have your car stolen in 2017.

Overall, crime in the city dropped 1% in 2017 — the much more numerous property crimes fell 2% year over year while crimes vs. people jumped 7% thanks (or no thanks) to a 13% rise in assaults. Seattle was also a deadlier city in 2017 with a jump in homicides from 18 to 27.

In the East Precinct including Capitol Hill, First Hill, and the Central District, total crime tallied by SPD fell 3% with a 4% drop in property crimes counterbalanced by a 8% rise in people crimes. Like the city as a whole, East Precinct assaults climbed — up 18% year over year. Meanwhile, there were fewer instances of theft and auto theft reported.

East Precinct street robberies also dropped in 2017, down softly from 259 reports in 2016 to 245 last year. The category increasingly includes shoplifting that involves any sort of physical contact between the perpetrator and staff so it seems likely the kinds of incidents you might typically think of when you hear the word “robbery” dropped even more precipitously in 2017. Across Seattle as a whole, robberies dropped only 1% — so East Precinct residents, you’ve got that going for you.

Other data sets are not reported by SPD at the neighborhood level include domestic violence statistics. According to SPD, the city is showing a disturbing increase in cases. “The department is seeking partnerships to further research increases in domestic violence,” notes in its report on general crime trends.

Sexual assault report totals are available, however, and they show a bad trend in the East Precinct centered around First Hill and Harborview Medical Center and the core of Capitol Hill. While the number of rapes fell from 47 to 44 year over year, the totals remain well above the 2015 total when 15 were reported.

Along with elements like the rise in assaults, SPD says it is looking into societal causes behind the increases. “SPD crime analysts were unable to find any clear patterns behind those upticks, but believe some of the increases in assaults may be tied to incidents involving individuals in crisis and nightlife, as well as shoplifts at downtown businesses escalating into assaults,” the brief on the 2017 reports says.

SPD also says that gun violence “continues to be a significant area of focus for the department” and that reports of shots fired and gunfire ticked higher across the city after a decrease in 2016. The East Precinct accounted for around 15% of the 360 “shots fired” incidents recorded in 2017 — most of those happened in the Central District.

There was some good news in the Central District crime totals where robberies dropped from 43 in 2016 to 36 in 2017. But the area saw some unfortunate rebounds to previous levels as burglary bounced 29% higher and the neighborhood joined the rest of the city in a rise in assaults.

Other neighborhood takeaways (we’ll use SPD’s neighborhood names here for clarity):

• The Capitol Hill core between I-5 and Broadway and around Pike/Pine finally saw a big drop in auto theft from 2015 and 2016 levels but had more than its fair share of assaults. And even though the category dropped, the area is still responsible for the most robberies of any neighborhood in the East Precinct.
  

  
• SPD’s Miller Park area around Stevens Elementary and Northeast Capitol Hill had a mixed year overall with burglaries “only” jumping 15% but big percentage leaps on small totals as robberies jumped from five to eight incidents and assaults leapt 25%… to ten incidents. Yeah, Pike/Pine and Broadway laugh at you, 19th Ave E assaults.
  

  
• SPD’s Central Area beats recorded trends that look pretty similar to Capitol Hill with spikes in assaults (up 15%) and burglaries (up 29%). The longer term trend for the area appears positive with total crime down more than 20% from two years ago.
  

  
• First Hill weighed in with some unhealthy changes as the area appears to be going through some growing pains. The area sported a big jump in robberies (24%) and an even bigger jump in burglaries (78%).
  

  
• Ah, to be Madison Park. After crime climbed in 2016, SPD apparently clamped down across our neighbor to the east. The area saw an overall 40% drop in crime in 2017. There were 131 crimes total reported in Madison Park in 2017 — about one every three days.
  

  

For more on citywide trends, check out SPD’s brief on the 2017 reports. The department has also posted an update on use of force statistics. You can view SPD’s stats on our Capitol Hill Crime Dashboard page here.

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