Crime Survey Complete

Thank you everyone who responded to our request for participation in the online Angle Lake Crime Survey!  A total of sixty (60) individuals took the time necessary in providing responses to the ten questions to help form a baseline understanding of the current perception of crime in our area, determine the degree of impact the average resident feels it is having on their way of life in this area of SeaTac, and supplying us with great ideas regarding what they are doing as homeowners to help combat crime within their immediate neighborhoods.

The Survey Results
A summary of the survey responses is as follows:

• Of the 60 respondents, 56 felt crime was an issue in their neighborhood
• With regard for how police were handling crime in their area: 33% were satisfied whereas 67% were neutral or expressed dissatisfaction.
• When asked if they currently participate in an active block watch, 56 said they do not. However 78% of those surveyed indicated they’d be very interested or somewhat interested in forming an organized block watch and 75% expressed they would be willing to volunteer additional time to work toward crime solutions.

A Call to Action

Viewing the results above, it is clear from the responses that people are willing to invest additional time in partnering with other residents in formulating solutions to reduce their risk of becoming victims of further criminal activity.  These surveyed responses acted as the catalyst for Council Member Pam Fernald to spring into action, responding to a request for help in opening a dialog with the new Crime Prevention Office Rich Rowe and to assist in coordinating and hosting a crime prevention meeting at city facilities for residents concerned about crime.  

Community Crime Prevention Meeting

Council Chambers at SeaTac City Hall

Wednesday, August 29th 6:30 – 7:30 PM

The evening agenda will include information on crime prevention relating to home break-ins plus additional steps to take to prevent criminal activity along the lake shore, share key information on starting a block watch in your area and discussion regarding the benefits and proven effectiveness of forming block watches. There will be a question, answer and comment period at the end of the meeting as an opportunity for residents to address any unique circumstance or experience they are faced with. 

Please make plans now to attend this beneficial workshop and please encourage your neighbors to do so, too!

Angle Lake Crime Survey

There are so many things to be thankful for living in this neighborhood: neighbors who care about the area, the camaraderie that is experienced through the various Shore Club events, the Friday Night social hours on the ‘El” (which last Friday looked like a small floating city of folks out enjoying the company of their other neighbors), opportunities in boating, sailing, fishing and swimming that living on the lake affords, and of course the simple beauty of our natural surroundings and the view it provides.

However, the neighborhood does have a problem and it appears to be increasing… what I am referring to is the rise in the frequency that criminal activity is occurring in our neighborhood. We’ve heard the news reports of breaking and entering which resulted in the assailant being shot by the homeowner; we learned of instances where home and car windows as well as overhead lights have been shot out, we’re aware of the recent property thefts occurring along the lakeshore, we’ve witnessed the results of mail theft seeing postal materials strewn about the culverts and walkways along our streets.  And now it appears that even our City Government is not immune to the problem of property crime in our area either. I just learned on Saturday that sometime during the morning hours the Angle Lake Park restrooms were broken into and all the copper piping was removed… rendering the restroom inoperable, requiring portable restrooms to be deployed until the plumbing can be replaced.

Crime can have negative effects on community morale as well as business growth and development.  Fear of being victimized by crime affects purchasing habits, community involvement and tourism. Preventing crime is the responsibility of those who seek a safe, peaceful environment.  Learning effective ways to deter crime is the first step to securing and maintaining low crime rates.

I, like many of you, am frustrated at hearing the increasing number of reported crimes occurring within our area, of experiencing crime as a victim of it and not hearing of any viable solutions, sorry but I don’t think an armed posse of vigilante residents is necessarily the right way of going about it! (…hello? …Zimmerman???)

While the police services are doing what they can, let’s face it – their services are mostly reactive at best, after the crime has been committed and I’ve seen little done toward preventing it from occurring.  Therefore, I’d like to call upon the stakeholders of our neighborhood, the property owners who care most about this community and ask that we begin brainstorming possible solutions; I’d also like to ask that you respond by taking the following online survey to get a baseline understanding of where the majority are at when it comes to preventing crime. 

Click here to take survey

The survey consists of 10 questions to respond to with opportunity to provide additional detail if you prefer.  Thank you in advance for taking the time to respond to this survey.

Breaking News: Lakeside Crime Spree

We’ve just received the following status report from Judy Williams:

“While at the Seatac Police Department today, I received some updated information relating to the recent burglary report on the Blog. 

It seems that the Sullivan’s at 196th and Military Road found a bunch of boat stuff in their bushes last night and reported it to the police. 

Speculation is that the criminal(s) came onto the lake - perhaps via the same area on Military,  "borrowed" a boat, went around the lake and took what we know has now been reported missing. The individual(s) most likely exited the lake near the Sullivan’s leaving with the smaller items they could carry off with them with the intent to return later for the larger items that they stashed in the nearby bushes.  All the recovered property is at STPD and available for pick-up. 

Officer Mitchell has available the report from the officers who recovered the property and their listing of everything found.  I am happy to report I now have my motor back and I have verified that the Todd’s motor is there, too. My battery is gone as it was small enough to carry off. 

Anyone missing property can call STPD or go there and look for what they are missing.  The bad news is the culprits have not been apprehended, but the good news it that some of the stolen property has been recovered.”

Thank you Judy for providing this report and informing those impacted of the opportunity to recover their stolen property.  

Volunteers Make a Difference!

On Saturday, July 28^th, the Shore Club hosted the second annual Lakeside Clean Sweep. The event kicked off this year with over 30 enthusiastic volunteers lined up and eager to get started collecting and removing trash and debris strewn about the Public Boat Launch, Hughes Property and the shoreline in between. 

The SeaTac Parks Department personnel issued trash bags and litter picker tools to the ‘terrestrial’ volunteers who were then dispatched to areas in the public park and on city owned property.  ‘Amphibians’ jumped onto the Bruce Bryant boat and were ferried over to the most heavily littered areas between the Offices and Apartment complexes located along the Southwest shores of the lake.  The Goulet Brothers, Lonnie and Bruce two pontoon boats with steel barge sandwiched between them served as dive platform for the deep water ‘aquanauts’ to deploy from and acted as a mobile collection point for garbage pulled from the water. It should also be noted that Julie Hill formed her own team to collect litter from the pedestrian walkways adjacent the main surface streets around the perimeter of the lake.

Within the four hours of work, all teams contributed two heaping piles consisting of paper, cans, bottles, mattress pads, numerous articles of decomposing clothing, a tent, tarps, several tires, a few chairs and yes, even a kitchen sink!  City parks employees helped to load and dispose of the more than two truckloads required to haul off the refuse collected from the project.

Once all the litter was carted away, the crew cleaned up and headed to the center of the lake to enjoy a full lunch accompaniment of sandwiches, chips, and refreshments after which a random raffle prize drawing was held.  Lucky participating volunteers received one of four ‘Olde Skool’ Angle Lake Shore Club hoodies or a ‘Big Bobber’ floating cooler. 

While the level of effort required for cleaning the area of garbage met most volunteer’s original expectations, very few anticipated the amount of satisfaction they’d feel from the outstanding job they performed ridding the area from all the unwanted debris.  When volunteers perform community service work the gift is truly received twice. Special thanks and recognition goes to the Angle Lake Shore Club and it's members for organizing and sponsoring this community event.

Lakeside Crime Spree

The blog team had begun receiving calls and emails yesterday regarding rampant theft having occurred sometime through the night of Wednesday, July 25^th on the Northwest shoreline of Angle Lake. 

Items reported missing were a couple boat stereo systems; several gas and electric boat motors; electric batteries; fish finders; gps units; and various other valuable items.  The location of theft had occurred between the Beck’s pontoon boat through to the William’s dock and quite possibly beyond.  It is assumed that the thief(ves) made their approach from the water.  If any resident is aware of after dark sailings and have a description to offer, please contact the SeaTac Police Department to record your information.

If you have property stored along the shoreline, we encourage you to take inventory as soon as possible and register an incident report involving any theft or vandalism.  You can file a police report by calling the King County Sheriff’s Office Non-Emergency line at (206) 296-3311, twenty-four hours a day, 7 days a week.  Or as an additional convenience, you can file an online claim via the internet at the following address: http://www.kingcounty.gov/safety/sheriff/ReportToSheriff.aspx 

No matter how small the item, regardless of its perceived depreciated value – all incidents should have a police reported filed.  Failing to file a claim obscures the report of actual percentage of crime occurring within the area and can unintentionally mask the problem. If we don’t report it, police services aren’t aware of it, and hence cannot respond to it!  Please take the time to report everything!

With increased reports of crime occurring both street side as well as along the shoreline, a formal request has recently been made of the SeaTac Police Department to help host a Community Meeting to share best practices and information for preparing against and combating crime.  Please continue to watch the ALSC Blog for further details.