Area crime way down

By Steve Cox

For the most part the Center was quiet for the month of May. We did have a murder. In that case, a father apparently got angry with his three month old child and hit and/or shook the baby so hard that the baby died. The father was arrested.

BB gun shootings

In the last two months we have had a rash of BB gun shootings. In most, if not all, of the cases the windows of parked cars were shot out. There have been at least 30 such shootings in the White Center and Burien area. Two weeks ago we arrested two local teenagers for at least some of the shootings. We have not had any BB gun shootings since.

Spring clean

In May, for the last three years, we had a one day spring cleaning function in the Center. This event draws about 200 volunteers from the community to work on various clean up and improvement projects.

This year the group cleaned windows for many of the businesses, hauled away junk and debris from 10 different houses, cleaned up the Angkor Market on 16th and 98th, cleaned North Shorewood Park and Salmon Creek Park, planted many new plants in the bog at 12th and 98th and did general clean up at several other sites.

The event is a big plus for the community and always makes the area look better. The following organizations participated in the event: Sheriff's Department, Community Development Association, New Start School, Pacifica, students from Seattle Pacific University, Department of Social and Health Services employees, employees from Impact Capital, employees from Alliance, volunteers from the Freemont Public Association, volunteers from the 34th Democrats, employees from the Highline School District, members of the North Highline Council, employees from the Seattle Neighborhood Group and volunteers from the Highland Park Action Committee. I hope I noted them all. Anyway, I wanted to give a big thanks to all those who helped clean up the Center.

Noteworthy stats

It was recently brought to my attention that the crime rate in the Center was down significantly from the first quarter of 2005 to the first quarter of 2006. The first quarter includes January, February and March. Those stats are:

- Part One Crimes, which are the most serious crimes, down 25 percent from 342 crimes in 2005 to 257 in 2006.

- Robberies down 63 percent from 16 to 6.

- Auto thefts down 31 percent from 96 to 66

- Residential burglaries down 28 percent from 43 to 31

- Thefts down 27 percent from 150 to 110

- Thefts from cars down 51 percent from 45 to 22

These reductions are remarkable. There are many reasons for the drop in crime.

Some of those reasons are that we have been more aggressive in dealing with crime and criminals in the Center. The Weed and Seed emphasis patrols have helped.

The community has also been more involved by helping us identify problem people, problem places and giving us witness statements when needed. These factors have reduced the street activity, the drug activity and removed some of the criminals from our community, which in turn has reduced the crime rate.

Reducing crime in the Center really has been a team effort between the police and community. Let's keep it up and remember, do your part to make our community a better place to live and work. See you next month.

Steve Cox is the White Center Storefront Deputy for the King County Sheriff's Department.