We mentioned the latest SeaStat statistical analysis report (PDF) from SPD Thursday in our post about this Saturday’s planned anti-crime vigil and march. Here’s a more full look at this month’s report’s East Precinct components.
Overall in 2015, serious crimes against persons are up sharply — 13% — in the East Precinct:
While in the city as a whole, the same serious category is up 3%:
Here’s a closer look at the citywide robbery totals and where they are occuring:
Meanwhile, the summer’s gunfire activity shows a rise in non-fatal shootings and a 23% jump in reports of shots fired: 
Meanwhile, parking garage burglaries remain an issue on Capitol Hill:
Does anyone know about shots last night (August 20th) ’round about midnight near madison / union and 23rd / 26th?
We heard 5-8 shots followed by a single shot followed by multiple sirens about 5 minutes later. Sounded sorta serious.
Heard that too. It was at 12:54. It started with a rapid burst followed by a return of gunfire then shots going back and forth then a pause and the one final shot.
I’ll have to look into. Unless somebody hit, SPD doesn’t usually post about unless asked
We heard the shots and called it in too. Put on hold but when we got through they asked if we were calling about the shots fired at 26th and Columbia. 5 minutes later multiple sirens in the area.
Thank you for keeping the neighborhood informed. These stats and public pressure from the neighborhood should put pressure on the city to take action.
Buh… buh…but… what about the stats?!? We need more stats to prove there is something to worry about because we’re all just perl clutching shut ins afraid of the Teenagers and their baggy (or tight) pants!
Oh. Wait. These ARE the stats.
Posts complaining that this just the price of living in a city in 3… 2… 1…
It is interesting to see how the burglaries cluster around I-5 and Cal Anderson Park where the traveling junkies camp all summer. I am sure this is just a coincidence.
But… but Amazon and white straight people are causing this!!
Cal Anderson Park closes at 11:30 pm. According to the SPD, if you call the police and tell them that you see people in the park, they will respond and make them move.
You’re kidding, right?
(Original post was supposed to be in response to Daniel Goodman.)
Though it isn’t particularly soothing to hear, it’s not surprising that crime is up as the population and density increases.
Consider that inevitability, it would be interesting to not whether there’s an increase per population, which would be a better indicator of an actual increase or one due to the fact there are just more people here to commit crimes, and to report crimes.
Crime is up? How? The rainbow crosswalks and street closures were meant to deter this. How could this happen?
A boycott or March is in order.
Growth does not necessarily mean more crime. There are cities of millions in some parts of the world with less crime than Seattle. We have a problem of not community oriented rampant development combined with arguably the wrong kind of hyper tolerance pushed by a vocal segment who has had influence at City Hall for several years now. I want to see more mandatory drug treatment or diversion from just going to jail if someone is a good candidate for making the most of that opportunity but when the vocal left insists that any street criminal represents all people of whatever descriptor and that it is somehow an assault on that whole community to police those causing trouble we get Cal Anderson Park and the increase in crime we are seeing. When you are tired of it you will push to change it.
“Growth does not necessarily mean more crime.”
Rapid growth is also a sign of positive economic indicators, and often with that comes widening income gaps. That also leads to an uptick in crime; more haves, more have-nots, more people in both categories, more crime.
It’s pretty consistent in most high-growth cities that aren’t under authoritative regimes (to keep people from posting about growth in China, Dubai, or other cities where they pretty much arrest or worse anyone who even looks like they might commit a crime). If you do nothing to handle the rapid influx of people, crime (in absolute terms, i.e. number of crimes) will increase, though I have no idea whether it’s identical to the rate of population growth, i.e. a 10% increase in population equals a 10% increase in crime. There’s a lot of other causes in there (like the economic gap mentioned above).
This can be a short- or long-term problem. If it’s long-term, it’ll kind of work itself out because the growth will slow down because your city is a shithole. For all of the silly bluster seen in some of these threads, Seattle isn’t even close to being a shithole. Ask anyone that grew up in Los Angeles, during the 80s and 90s when gang crime was at its peak, whether Seattle is in bad shape. There are no equivalent neighborhoods to some of the worst parts of L.A. (many of which are much better today). Despite the recent horrible violence, Seattle isn’t even in the same ballpark as old L.A. or New York; hell, it’s not as bad here as it’s been in Chicago this summer. Nevermind what goes on in Baltimore or Camden, NJ. We are privileged compared to people in those cities.
Seattle should be able to afford to keep up with its growth due to the increase in tax base, but it’ll any policy changes will trail the growth by at least one year because budgets don’t necessarily account for a need to up, say, policing. But if SPD is dragging its feet because it basically hates the neighborhoods and cities it polices, well… it’s not surprising to have substandard results.
Ultimately, companies like Amazon should be the ones pressuring the city to crack down on crime, because if it spirals out of control, it’ll be harder for them to recruit.