In response to rising crime rates in North Seattle, Whittier Heights Involved Neighbors met last week to discuss the details of forming their very own paid security patrol.

Almost 50 residents from the Whittier Heights neighborhood met at the Ballard Church to find out how the new security patrol will be operated.

The patrol will be comprised of off-duty Seattle Police officers working in shifts amounting to four-hours. They will patrol an area from Northwest 65th street to Northwest 85th Street to 15th Avenue Northwest to 8th Avenue Northwest. The patrollers are hired through a security company, Seattle Security, which is an agency that works closely with SPD officers. On patrols, SPD officers are off-duty, yet will wear a uniform. Weather permitting, officers will walk or bike the parameters of the neighborhood, or drive their personal vehicles. Officers are authorized to arrest individuals breaking the law.

The new patrol is modeled after the Laurelhurst neighborhood patrol. Whittier Heights “subscribers” will pay an annual fee of $250, which amounts to the cost of one night of patrolling. Over 100 subscribers are needed to make the patrol viable. “Package and vacation services” which provide check-ins when subscribers are out of town, are offered to subscribers. The patrol services are offered to both residential and commercial properties.

Brad Renton, a 40-year resident of Whittier Heights, is spearheading the patrol.Renton is the Block Watch Captain and a SNAP emergency preparation representative. He said he sees drug-drop cars in his neighborhood and recently witnessed a "strong-arm" robbery at PetCo. He also said that a drug dealer solicited him less than a block from Ballard High School. According to Renton, the dealer approached him from between two buildings and asked Renton if he wanted to purchase a substance.

Renton has started a non-profit, Whittier Heights Patrol Association, to hire and manage the patrols and hopes to bring in as many subscribers as possible. Renton said that Laurelhurst reports show that they have curbed crime in their neighborhood using the patrols, so that’s the model he used for Whittier Heights.

“I should get out of my house more and on the streets; I’d probably see more of it. If I’m seeing just that, then it’s the tip of the iceberg,” said Renton.

The Whittier Heights neighborhood patrols will begin at the beginning of 2015.

“I’ve been here 40 years, and I’ve seen the neighborhood change, and that’s not a bad thing in a lot of ways, but when concerning crime it is. … Everything is in place. It’s just a matter of time,” said Renton.

Depending on the number of subscribers, the patrol will emphasize their patrol times in the summer and the fall, when property crime frequency has spiked in the past with peaks in October and May.

The move is the corollary of Gina Frank forming WHIN in response to rising crime in Whittier Heights. WHIN is most concerned with the rising property crime coupled with long wait times and lack of resources for police investigations. Neighbors report wait times after calling 911 are as long as 80 minutes after a property crime was reported.

Indeed, even the venue for the WHIN meeting, the Ballard Church, recently fell victim to property theft twice in in under a 30-day period. On Nov. 21, two guitars were stolen from the church. SPD reports show that the suspect had burglarized the church once before and took a bicycle, copper wire, a computer and a microphone.

Whittier Heights residents called for Seattle City Council to take action to help SPD mitigate the influx of crime in North Seattle. The North Precinct is the largest in Seattle. Shane Harms.

According to the City, from October to November, property crime decreased by 30 percent.

“It’s good that it’s decreasing, but October was the worst October in four years, and the crime trend is still increasing, ” said Frank.

In the same timeframe, robbery rates increased 28 percent in the North precinct area, amounting to 37 robberies.

Hotspots in North Seattle are Green Lake and University Avenue, especially with cell phone robberies. In Whittier Heights, Baker Park is a problematic area, where locals report that people can’t even go to their cars without being hassled; car windows have been shot out; and there are used needles throughout the parking lot.

“This kind of stuff can be emphasized on patrols,” said Renton.

Kurt, who has been living in Whittier Heights for almost three years, said that his home was burglarize, and he came to the meeting to see what he could do while the City determines a plan to mitigate crime in North Seattle.

“It’s not so much the theft of goods, but more so the violation and knowing someone was in your house,” said Kurt.

If trends continue, more and more could be victimized.

“Hopefully in a couple years we wont need to do anything like the patrol, but for right now, it’s something we can do,” said Renton.