Two years after an SPD budget snafu led to the department laying off East Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator Michael Yasutake, budget issues have forced a shakeup of the city’s coordinators. The city cut three CPC positions this year, and the remaining four have shifted and expanded their reaches.
The city’s CPCs are civilian liaisons between the community and SPD who can dedicate time and resources to block-level issues in a neighborhood. CPCs help organize block watches, organize the yearly Night Out event, and are available to discuss ongoing crime and work toward solutions.
Fran Tello
Mark Solomon, who has been the crime prevention coordinator for the South and East Precincts since 2009, is now in charge of the South and Southwest Precincts. Solomon will not longer be at East Precinct Crime Prevention Council meetings, he told the group last week.
Replacing him will be Fran Tello, who had been the West Precinct’s business crime prevention coordinator will now be the CPC for both the West and East Precincts. You can contact him at (206) 684-4730 or [email protected].
Seattle Crime reported in the fall that SPD was considering cutting the CPCs entirely, but the departments ended up trimming the program’s budget instead. Here’s a map of the city’s new CPC areas:
Looking at this just makes me think fondly of the 5 seasons of The Wire on HBO.