North Seattle Burglary Report
Residential burglars have been active in North Seattle neighborhoods this fall including North Beach and Broadview. On Tuesday evening during the Broadview Community Council meeting at Luther Memorial Church two cars had windows shattered with a backpack and briefcase stolen. One vehicle is owned by City Councilmember Jean Godden who was the guest speaker. Burglars have also gained entrance to homes through open and unlocked doors and have stolen cars and flat screen televisions. Many residential burglaries are occurring during daylight hours so residents are encouraged to call 911 to report suspicious activities in their neighborhoods. One resident called 911 to report a suspicious vehicle backed into their neighbor’s driveway and provided a license plate number to Police who then apprehended a serial house burglar.
North Precinct burglary detectives have also been busy this year filing 115 burglary cases in North Seattle which have lead to the arrest of 95 alleged burglars. North Precinct’s burglary clearance rate which is the measure of crimes solved by the police is well above the national average. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clearance_rate
One North Precinct burglary detective will be shifted to patrol, three crime prevention coordinator positions cut and two victim advocate positions will be cut citywide in the proposed 2011/2012 Seattle budget. Neil Hansen who is the Crime Prevention Coordinator for North Seattle including Broadview recently received his 30 year Service Award although he has worked for the Seattle Police Department for 34 years. Neil organizes the Block Watch program and the annual Night Out to prevent crime and has received National Awards for theses programs. If you are interested in forming a Block Watch contact
Neil Hansen
(206) 684-4689 | neil.hansen@seattle.gov
http://www.seattle.gov/police/programs/blockwatch/default.htm
We should be outraged! The NERVE of a burglar to attack in a church parking lot during a community meeting! I extend my condolences to Ms. Godden and the other victims in our community. This really speaks to the on-going need for our community policing efforts and the continued service of Neil Hansen and his colleagues on the North Seattle bulglary detectives to keep us safe, bolster our block watch programs and solve these crimes.
It was shocking to see the car break ins during last night’s meeting in a well light busy parking lot. Allot of meeting goers walked or biked to the meeting and Broadview is a relatively safe community although we still need to be mindful of not keeping any valuables in your car and to lock your doors and windows at home.