A new effort to launch a block watch with Capitol Hill businesses and organizations to provide a visible sign — literally — that the community is rallying around doing something about criminal activity took its first steps with a rally and march through the streets of the area’s neighborhoods Wednesday night.

Chants included ”Our neighborhood belongs to us! Not crime!” and ”2, 4, 6, 8, no more violence, no more hate.”

“Today is about sending a message to our fellow citizens and our neighborhood that we are watching out for each other,” said organizer Shaun Knittel. 

CHS wrote about Social Outreach Seattle’s “block watch” plan here:

The rally and launch of the program comes as part of an ongoing effort from the new group to address concerns about street crime on Capitol Hill — especially among the LGBT community. Knittel said his group had been working with police for the past few months on a new program but the situation accelerated when one of Social Outreach’s own reported being robbed in a brazen daylight attack as onlookers failed to intervene. This stabbing in Cal Anderson came as the rally was already in motion. Meanwhile, CHS crime reports continue to provide anecdotal examples of the types of violence and street crimes that people in the area are dealing with. The most recent East Precinct crime statistics agree — we’ve seen a bump in crime around Capitol Hill. Even as Seattle’s overall crime continues to plummet, the timing, it seems for finding solutions in the neighborhood couldn’t be better.

Earlier today, CHS reported that, despite the recent outbreak of violent crime around Cal Anderson Park, SPD’s crime statistics actually show a drop in overall criminal activity on Capitol Hill in the first three months of 2013.

If you are interested in being part of the program, visit socialoutreachseattle.com.

Student reporter Elif Koc contributed to this report.

Wednesday night, following a disturbing series of incidents including two stabbings in Cal Anderson Park, groups, local businesses and neighbors will hold a rally and march to launch a new “block watch” initiative on Capitol Hill.

While statistics compiled by the Seattle Police Department show that crime totals increased on Capitol Hill in 2012, CHS’s analysis of the start of 2013 shows that SPD’s totals actually show crime is down in the area compared to the same period in 2012.

Here are the totals for the four East Precinct beats that cover Capitol Hill for the first three months of the year:

A major downtick in reported thefts has helped fuel the drop but fewer assaults and a flat performance for vehicle thieves rounded out the overall 10% drop compared to 2012. Burglaries — including commercial and residential break-ins, on the other hand, nearly doubled compared to the same period last year. And the much smaller total of reported robberies also showed a disturbing jump.

The breakdown by beat reveals the hotspots — and where things cooled down compared to last year:

• Burglars have been busier everywhere on the Hill but especially in the southern beats of C2 and E2
• Robbery reports in the north in C1 are pretty rare — there were zero in the first three months of 2012. There were four there in the first three months of 2013 plus an increase everywhere else but western E1.
• Thefts, covering everything from store ripoffs to stolen bikes, were down significantly in every beat but up north in residential C1. We’ll check in with East Precinct to see if there is any explanation for the drop. We’ve heard anecdotally, for example, that there has been an increase in theft related to liquor now being available in grocery stores — these numbers don’t seem to bear that out.

The totals do show, however, that overall, Capitol Hill’s first three months of 2013 were less crime-y than the same period in 2012. If it helps, take a look at the datasets the next time you feel like things are going to hell in a handbasket. The numbers say, nope — well, except for the burglary part. When the numbers for April and May are released, we’ll update and see if the story remains the same.

Source: SPD Crime Statistics

A group is planning to take to the streets of Capitol Hill Wednesday night to recruit local businesses into a new “block watch” and raise awareness of crime issues in the neighborhood:

CAPITOL HILL ANTI-CRIME/VIOLENCE MARCH & RALLY
Join Social Outreach Seattle (SOSea) for a peaceful march and rally to call for an end to violence and crime on Capitol Hill.

The CAPITOL HILL ANTI-CRIME/VIOLENCE MARCH & RALLY will also feature the launch of a neighborhood business watch program, BLOCK WATCH.

DATE: May 22
TIME: 6 – 8 p.m.
LOCATION: Seattle Central Community College (1701 Broadway)

SCHEDULE
• 6 – 6:45 P.M. GATHER AND START RALLY AT SCCC
• 6:46 – 7:30 P.M. MARCH
From SCCC onto Broadway, North on Broadway to John St.. West on E Olive Way to Melrose, South on Melrose to Pike St, West on Pike St to Plymouth Pillars Park. Closing at the Park, and disperse from there
• 7:31 – 8 p.m. END RALLY AT Plymouth Pillars Park.