Dear Editor,

At 4:25 AM today, I was driving down Alki Ave to pick up my friend for the airport. It was still pretty dark out. 4 people zoomed past me on motorcycles, towards Harbor Ave, at high speed, with no headlights and no helmets. 

A couple of blocks later, in front of Cristo's and Duke's, a group of around 30 - 40 people were gathered around a couple of muscle cars parked in the middle of the street. They were blocking the beach-side traffic lane and most of the restaurant-side lane, and the beach-side bike lane, and would not move. I had to squeeze around them. They had beer bottles in their hands and a bonfire was still burning on the beach.

I called 9-1-1. It took at least 15 rings. Before asking what I was reporting, the call-taker asked for the location and I said, "In front of Duke's on Alki". He demanded an address. I said "I don't have the address, I'm driving, but there is a huge gathering blocking the road!" He kept demanding an address. I yelled,  "FFS, look it up!" He hung up on me. I called back, and, after 12 rings,  fortunately got a different call-taker. I tried to guess the location as "between 55th and 57th on Alki Ave", which SHE accepted. I explained the situation.  I had to repeat the numbers of motorcycles, the crowd size, and the number of cars three times. "No, not 30 to 40 motorcycles, it's 4 motorcycles that were speeding down the street and then 30 to 40 people around 2 cars blocking the street." Then again, "No, not 30 to 40 cars, 30 to 40 PEOPLE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET AROUND TWO CARS PARKED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET!!". She finally got that correctly. Then I said, "It's in front of Duke's on Alki!", to which she responded, "Oh great! That's really helpful!". Oy vey. She asked if I saw guns, and I explained that it's dark outside. Clearly, the City not only lacks adequate numbers of police, but also competent call-takers in the 9-1-1 center.

I really feel for everyone who lives in the Alki area. The beach and street have become a dangerous place filled with people who don't live there, fighting over turf. And, pre-dawn post 4th of July, I could see the sidewalk, bike path, and beach was littered with trash. Mountains of beer boxes were piled near garbage cans. My headlights glittered off broken glass. 

As a former resident of the neighborhood (61st & Stevens, a little cottage with a great garden, gone almost 20 years), I weep for what Alki has become.

Cindi Laws

West Seattle